When President Donald Trump took office in January, one of the many questions about his administration was whether he would follow through on his campaign promises to repeal the federal estate tax and reform other wealth-transfer and tax-related measures. Just a few days before the 100-day mark of his presidency, Trump unveiled his proposed tax plan, which includes scuttling the federal estate tax and lowering both individual and corporate income tax rates. But while the administration is calling it the biggest tax reform since President Ronald Reagan’s overhaul in 1986, the plan (as it was revealed) provides few details and limited information about how the proposal’s objectives actually will be accomplished.
As expected, the Trump proposal would repeal the federal estate tax. Reforming or repealing the estate tax, called the “death tax” by its critics, is a perennial campaign promise for Republican presidential candidates, including Bob Dole in 1996 and Mitt Romney in 2012. The Death Tax Elimination Act of 2000 was one of many attempts to jettison the estate tax and was passed by Congress before being vetoed by President Bill Clinton.
