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Tax Policy Questions Regarding The Federal Estate Tax And Charitable Bequests: A Two State Analysis Of Probate Records, Steven Hanke

Doctoral Dissertations

There is considerable support for extending the temporary repeal of the federal estate tax in 2010 into a permanent repeal. Although repealing the federal estate tax would simplify the current tax system, it may also impair the federal government's ability to prudently aid eleemosynary organizations if charitable bequests' preferential tax treatment is a budget efficient policy. Furthermore, overall charitable bequests may also decline in the absence of a federal estate tax.

Using Virginia and Louisiana probate records from the years 2000-2005, tax policy questions are examined regarding the federal estate tax and charitable bequests. Tobit regression models, adjusted for heteroscedasticity …