Interesting article in the Wall Street Journal: Death Certain; Taxes, Not So Much; Bush’s Cuts Can’t Explain Fall in Estate-Tax Haul; Have Rich Stopped Dying?, by Robert Frank:
As the number of millionaires has exploded over the past decade, the number of people paying the estate tax has plunged. [What are] the causes of this economic conundrum? The Bush tax cuts are the most-obvious answer, since they have raised the wealth threshhold of estates subject to the tax. But there are three other possible explanations:
- The wealthy (and their lawyers) are getting better at finding loopholes.
- The rich are getting younger, and therefore aren’t dying as quickly.
- They’re giving more to charity.
