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This fast-paced book by Yale professors Michael Graetz and Ian Shapiro unravels the following mystery: How is it that the estate tax, which has been on the books continuously since 1916 and is paid by only the wealthiest two percent of Americans, was repealed in 2001 with broad bipartisan support? The mystery is all the more striking because the repeal was not done in the dead of night, like a congressional pay raise. It came at the end of a multiyear populist campaign launched by a few individuals, and was heralded by its supporters as a signal achievement for Americans who are committed to the work ethic and the American Dream. Graetz and Shapiro conducted wide-ranging interviews with the relevant players: members of congress, senators, staffers from the key committees and the Bush White House, civil servants, think tank and interest group representatives, and many others. The result is a unique portrait of American politics as viewed through the lens of the death tax repeal saga. Graetz and Shapiro brilliantly illuminate the repeal campaign's many fascinating and unexpected turns--particularly the odd end result whereby the repeal is slated to self-destruct a decade after its passage. They show that the stakes in this fight are exceedingly high; the very survival of the long standing American consensus on progressive taxation is being threatened. Graetz and Shapiro's rich narrative reads more like a political drama than a conventional work of scholarship. Yet every page is suffused by their intimate knowledge of the history of the tax code, the transformation of American conservatism over the past three decades, and the wider political implications of battles over tax policy.

With the baby boom generation on the cusp of retirement, life expectancies on the rise, and the nation’s cultural makeup in flux, the United States is faced with social and policy quandaries that demand attention. How are elders to balance the competing claims of helping family members during their lifetime, saving for old age, and planning estates? What roles should the state, family, and individuals play in supporting people during later life? Are new familial gift-giving trends sustainable, and, if so, what effects might they have on future generations?Inheritance in Contemporary America tackles the complex legal, policy, and emotional issues that surround bequests and inheritances in an era of increasing longevity, broadening ethnicity, and unraveling social safety nets. Through empirical analyses, case studies, interviews, and anecdotes, Jacqueline L. Angel explains the historical nature of familial giving and how it is changing as the nation’s demographics shift. She explores the legal, personal, and policy complexities involved in passing wealth down through generations and provides a cross-disciplinary context for exploring the indelible effects that newly unfolding inheritance practices will have on various societal cohorts and the nation in general.From nuclear and extended families to the state and nongovernmental bodies, Angel’s engaging study explores how attitudes toward giving are evolving and confronts in stark terms the legacy that these shifts in attitude will leave. This book will be a vital tool for scholars and practitioners in gerontology, sociology, psychology, anthropology, economics, political science, and public policy.

Contains reports of estate planning developments and planning opportunities.

Die Erbschaft- und Schenkungsteuer ist in den letzten zwei Jahrzehnten in Deutschland immer wieder Bestandteil politischer und gesellschaftlicher Diskussionen gewesen. Der Bundesfinanzhof zweifelt aktuell die Verfassungsmaigkeit von steuerlichen Verschonungsregeln im Zuge der Unternehmensnachfolge und Ubergabe von Betriebsvermogen an. In naher Zukunft wird daher moglicherweise das Erbschaft- und Schenkungssteuergesetz erneut verstarkt in den Fokus der Steuerpolitik rucken. Ein groerer Neuregelungsbedarf konnte sich aus der ausstehenden Entscheidung des Bundesverfassungsgericht (BVerfG) ergeben. Vor der letzten Reformierung der Erbschaftsteuer brachte die FDP den Vorschlag einer Regionalisierung vor. Eine Regionalisierung bedeutet, die Gesetzgebungshoheit, die bislang beim Bund liegt, auf die Lnder zu bertragen. Die Lnder bekmen das Recht zugesprochen, eigenstndig Erbschaftsteuergesetze erlassen zu drfen. Dieser Lsungsansatz wurde jedoch abgelehnt. Vor dem Hintergrund des ausstehenden Urteils des BVerfG ist erneut zu prfen, ob eine Regionalisierung der Erbschaftsteuer zu einem bestndigen Steuersystem fhrt. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird analysiert, inwieweit eine Regionalisierung der Erbschaftsteuer eine sinnvolle Alternative darstellt, um das derzeitig mglicherweise verfassungswidrige Erbschaftsteuerrecht verfassungskonform, bestndig und gerecht zu gestalten.

Plan ahead: estate planning to secure your wishes Estate Planning is your overview of the estate planning concepts that are necessary to consider when advising your clients about the different facets of wealth transfer planning. This fundamental reference presents the basic estate, gift, and trust planning ideas in a descriptive and accessible manner—allowing you to easily and conveniently access the information you need when you need it. This essential text covers the development of estate planning strategies for your clients, the fundamentals of the federal transfer tax system, relevant federal income tax rules, lifetime donative asset transfers, gratuitous property transfers at death, generation-skipping transfers, special property transfer planning considerations, and post-mortem planning. When done effectively, estate planning enables your clients to make both lifetime and testamentary transfers of assets to beneficiaries of their choice. In the process, strategic, successful estate planning strategies conserve wealth for these beneficiaries, who are often family members of the client. Leveraging the right methods of estate planning can ensure that you achieve your client's objectives. * Explore the fundamentals of estate planning as they relate to wealth transfer planning * Dive into special property transfer planning considerations, including community property, life insurance, charitable transfers, closely held corporations, etc. * Better serve your clients by having access to relevant, easy to navigate information on estate planning best practices * Reinforce these new ideas with a comprehensive test bank Estate Planning is your guide to estate planning concepts that help you protect your assets during wealth transfer—and prepare for your assets to change hands as smoothly as possible.

Rachel Staveley died on 18 December 2006. HMRC raised notices of determination to Inheritance Tax (IHT) on her executors (\"the taxpayers\") on the basis that she had made two (non-overlapping) lifetime transfers of value on which tax was chargeable. First, a transfer of value when she transferred her pension fund from an existing (post-divorce) policy associated with the company she had run with her ex-husband to a new personal pension scheme (\"the Transfer\"). The post-divorce pension scheme provided for death benefits to be paid to her personal representatives and benefit her sons via her estate but there was also a perceived risk that a surplus would benefit her ex-husband (towards whom Mrs. Staveley felt bitter). The second transfer of value was immediately prior to her death, which was the last point at which she could have drawn lifetime benefits under that new private pension but she omitted to do so (\"the Omission\"). Those death benefits were held subject to a discretion in the hands of the new private pension trustees, who implemented her nonbinding nomination in favour of her sons.

National tax authorities can express their views in a variety of ways on how tax treaties should be interpreted. As a result, there are unilateral, bilateral and multilateral interpretive instruments that are not - or not necessarily - incorporated into an actual tax treaty, but are \"extrinsic\" to it. National courts and tax authorities, as well as taxpayers and tax scholars, strongly rely on the OECD Commentaries and Transfer Pricing Guidelines when interpreting tax treaties. Their legal status has been considered one of the major unresolved issues in international tax law. This book thoroughly analyses the legal status of extrinsic instruments under public international law in a critical, integrated and original manner, with the OECD Commentaries and Transfer Pricing Guidelines as central elements. Starting with a detailed historical evolution of model conventions and commentaries, the book empirically studies the OECD Commentaries and their interrelationship with other extrinsic instruments, relying on treaty practices in Belgium, the Netherlands and the United States. It then critically investigates the various methods and concepts offered by public international law to assess their impact on the interpretation of tax treaties. This book offers interpreters refreshing, original and stimulating insights for determining the legal status and role of extrinsic instruments for tax treaty interpretation purposes.Honourable mention for the 2020 Mitchell B. Carroll Prize (IFA) and 2021 EATLP Doctoral Tax Thesis Award (European Association of Tax Law Professors and European Commission).

Action 15 of the BEPS Project \"The Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting\" - the Multilateral Instru­ment (MLI) - is a multilateral convention that swiftly modifies the application of exist­ing bilateral tax treaties without the need to renegotiate each treaty individually. It does not replace the existing tax treaties but rather modifies their application with the aim to reduce the opportunities for tax avoidance by multinational enterprises, counter treaty abuse and improve the dispute resolution mechanism, providing flexibility according to the different treaty policies and positions chosen by countries. The MLI was finalized in November 2016, and a first signing ceremony was held in Paris on 6 June 2017. A total of 76 jurisdictions signed it at this first ceremony. In the meantime, it has grown to cover almost 100 jurisdictions. The aim of this book is to provide tax authorities, policymakers, courts and practitioners with an overview of the countries' positions and experiences re­garding the impact of the MLI on their tax treaty network, as well as other issues on the implementation of the convention with respect to policy options, reservations, and legal and constitutional concerns.The book comprises 34 national reports from countries across the globe and is the out­come of an alternative non-physical interaction between national reporters and authors. This was due to the special COVID-19 situation lived during 2020, serving as a substitute for the prepared conference on the MLI that should have taken place from 2 to 4 July 2020 in Rust, Burgenland, Austria. A general report highlights the most important findings.

\"While an increasingly large space in tax literature has been dedicated to the different methods of tax avoidance used by taxpayers to reduce their tax liability, not much has been said on how contracting states may make use of comparable tactics to increase tax revenue or extend economic advantages for their own benefit. As much as taxpayers may design legal arrangements that work through legal loopholes with the view of avoiding taxes, contracting states too may circumvent obstacles or artificially stretch advantages in a way that complies with the wording of tax treaties but ultimately impacts the allocation of taxing rights and the tax burden borne by taxpayers. These states may unilaterally broaden the scope of circumstances in which they are allowed to tax by creating new scenarios that either fall outside the scope of tax treaties or require the application of treaty articles that are more favourable to these states. Conversely, contracting states may also attract foreign investment by allowing the application of tax treaty benefits to taxpayers in situations where these benefits would normally be denied. Despite not violating the literal wording of tax treaties, this state practice may be considered illegitimate based on rules in public international law rules that spell out the correct standards and good usage of treaties. This book presents new insights on the way contracting states interfere in the interpretation and application of tax treaties by identifying, categorizing and assessing the different methods used by states to modify the outcome of tax treaties. It investigates the tools offered by public international law to affected taxpayers and treaty partners and recommends ways to better address this phenomenon.\" --