Estates and Trusts Commons^™

The Socio-Economics Of The Federal Estate Tax: Why Do So Many People Hate (Or Love) This Centenarian?, Richard Gershon

Akron Law Review

The federal estate tax has faced many detractors during its almost 100 years of existence. While the tax affects only a very small percentage of estates, many have called for its repeal. This Essay discusses the socio-economic reasons why the estate tax should be maintained. The tax is an important source of revenue, and it helps to rectify the growing issue of wealth and income inequality in the United States.

Controversies In Tax Law: A Matter Of Perspective (Introduction), Anthony C. Infanti

Book Chapters

This volume presents a new approach to today’s tax controversies, reflecting that debates about taxation often turn on the differing worldviews of the debate participants. For instance, a central tension in the academic tax literature — which is filtering into everyday discussions of tax law — exists between “mainstream” and “critical” tax theorists. This tension results from a clash of perspectives: Is taxation primarily a matter of social science or social justice? Should tax policy debates be grounded in economics or in critical race, feminist, queer, and other outsider perspectives?

To capture and interrogate what often seems like a chasm …

Taxing Personhood: Estate Taxes And The Compelled Commodification Of Identity, Ray D. Madoff

Ray D. Madoff

In this Article, Professor Madoff explores the ways in which the blunt tools of the wealth tax, and in particular the estate tax, uses a one-size-fits-all system to impose a tax on all property interests owned at the time of one’s death. Professor Madoff illustrates the ways in which these blunt tools can produce problematic results by examining their application to the right of publicity, a newly recognized property interest. Professor Madoff suggests that the imposition of the estate tax can force the commodification of an individual’s identity, regardless of one’s desire to refrain from marketing their identity, and explores …