This paper analyzes to what extent tax planning impacts on the level of the inheritance tax rate perceived as fair. In a factorial survey conducted in Germany it finds out that tax planning increases the fair tax rate by roughly 4 percentage points. The fair tax rate is not only determined by...

The national debate over the federal estate tax has caused fear in American charities over the past ten years, a fear that is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Since Congress acted in 2001 to repeal the “death tax” for one year, for decedents dying in 2010, charities and...

We study how attitudes to inheritance taxation are influenced by information about the role of inherited wealth in society. Using a randomized experiment in a register-linked Swedish survey, we find that informing individuals about the large aggregate importance of inherited wealth and its link...

This paper studies the optimal taxation of bequests in a model in which agents have heterogeneous preferences over their consumption and the net-of-tax bequest received by their heir. The bequest left by an individual depends on both her degree of altruism and the bequest received from her...