Jay Soled (Rutgers; Google Scholar), The Estate Tax and Its Tacit Push to Be Charitable, 185 Tax Notes Fed. 2375 (Dec. 23, 2024):

In this article, Soled argues that Congress should maintain the estate tax because it nudges taxpayers to be more charitable than they likely would be without it.

Societies have levied estate taxes on accumulated wealth throughout ancient and modern history. In most industrialized countries, some people amass sufficient affluence for estate tax exposure, and those who fall within the scope of this prosperity often take extraordinary measures to defeat those taxes.

Nevertheless, the very existence of the estate tax presents a unique opportunity to enhance one’s reputation. Instead of spending time and effort deliberating on and implementing circumvention measures designed to enrich immediate family members, individuals should ask themselves — albeit, admittedly, few do — how they wish to leave a meaningful legacy for the greater good. …

[T]here is a strong argument that Congress should maintain the estate tax — rather than repeal it, as some in Congress have repeatedly tried to do over the last 20 years — as a permanent fixture in our nation’s panoply of taxes. It tacitly nudges taxpayers to be more charitable than they likely would be were there no estate tax, inspiring many affluent individuals to undertake or do glorious charitable deeds rather than merely make their offspring financially well-heeled.

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