About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

11 Tax L. Rev. 223 (1955-1956)
The Rise and Decline of the Estate Tax

handle is hein.journals/taxlr11 and id is 231 raw text is: The Rise and Decline of the Estate Tax* LOUIS EISENSTEIN D EATHr taxes are ancient taxes. They were known to the Egyptians, as well as the Romans and Greeks.- Even the complaints against them have a venerable pedigree. Pliny the Younger provides as good an example as any. He is among the earliest critics who have left us summaries of their com- plaints. Pliny eloquently argued that a tax on the shares of direct heirs was an 'unnatural' tax, augmenting the grief and sorrow of the be- reaved. 2 Almost two thousand years later the same argument was still being heard. For in 1898 Senator Allen forcefully inquired whether it was right to stand with the widow and the children at the grave side of a dead father to collect a tax, and then he sympathetically referred to the widow in weeds and the children in tears. 3 In criticism, too, the fashions change. Now the complaints are more sensitive to the laws of economics than to the distress of the survivors. Instead of picturesque allusions to weeds and tears, there are grave obser- vations on such formidable subjects as savings, investments, and incen- tives. Many voices are heard, and all speak with assurance and authority. The words may vary, but the message seems always the same. We are solemnly informed, with a suitable air of gloom and despair, that our eco- nomic system is doomed unless the estate tax is entirely repealed or se- verely curtailed. We are dramatically reminded, so that we are properly * This paper was prepared at the request of the Subcommittee on Tax Policy of the Joint Committee on the Economic Report. It was one of many papers submitted to the Subcommittee in its far-ranging study of the economic consequences of taxation. All the papers appear in FEDEB.&A. T-X PoLicy FOR EcoNomc GRoWTu AND STAn Ty, JOI-T Comm= o THE ECONOMIC REPORT, 84th Cong., 1st Sess. (Joint Committee Print, 1955). For present publication I have sparingly made the kind of minor changes which authors are unable to resist when they are given a second chance. Since the jurisdiction of my paper was limited I did not undertake to discuss such matters as charitable foundations and the economic effect of the estate tax. However, those who persevere to the end should fairly easily infer my views in those areas. See further Hearings before the Subcommittee on Tax Policy for Economic Growth and Stability, 84th Cong., 1st Sess. 693 et seq. (1955). 3 See WEsT, THE IxHEIRAxC TAX 11 (2d ed. 1908); SHULTZ, TnE TjAoAox OF I EHERIAwcE 3 (1926) ; GIBBON, THE DECLIXE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN Empsn 142, 144 (Modern Lib. ed.). 2 SHULTZ, op. cit. supra note 1, at 6. 3 31 CONG. REc. 5081 (1898). Cf. 42 CONe. GLOBE 4708 (1870) ; and iec SmT, THE WEALTH OF NATIONS 810 (Modern Lib. ed. 1937). 223 Imaged with the Permission of N.Y.U. Tax Law Review

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most