How the Estate Tax Works: Who Actually Pays It, and How Little It Raises
Roughly 0.2% of estates file a federal estate tax return, and the tax raises under 1% of federal revenue. How the $15M exemption, GRATs, and step-up in basis actually work.
Roughly 0.2% of estates file a federal estate tax return, and the tax raises under 1% of federal revenue. How the $15M exemption, GRATs, and step-up in basis actually work.
A trust isn’t one thing. The kind most people get skips probate but protects nothing; the kind that moves real wealth works only because you give up control. Here’s which does what.
The 25 wealthiest Americans paid a 3.4% income-tax rate on their wealth growth, per ProPublica. The structures that produce that number — explained, not editorialized.