Death Tax Repeal Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 218 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 3, 2019 Mr. SMITH of Missouri (for himself, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. KING of Iowa, Mr. BARR, Mr. ESTES, Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. WESTERMAN, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. YOHO, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, Mr. COLLINS of New York, Mr. BOST, Mr. BUDD, Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. LAHOOD, Ms. FOXX of North Carolina, Mr. LONG, Mr. DAVIDSON of Ohio, Mr. BANKS, Mr. BACON, Mr. HILL of Arkansas, Mrs. ROBY, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. YOUNG, Ms. CHENEY, Mr. MITCHELL, Mr. WOMACK, Mr. CRAWFORD, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. PERRY, Mr. BUCK, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. SMITH of Nebraska, Mr. HIG- GINS of Louisiana, and Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Death Tax Repeal 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Jan 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H218.IH H218 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 218 IH SEC. 2. REPEAL OF ESTATE AND GENERATION-SKIPPING 1 TRANSFER TAXES. 2 (a) ESTATE TAX REPEAL.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter C of chapter 11 4 of subtitle B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 5 is amended by adding at the end the following new 6 section: 7 ‘‘SEC. 2210. TERMINATION. 8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 9 (b), this chapter shall not apply to the estates of decedents 10 dying on or after the date of the enactment of the Death 11 Tax Repeal Act. 12 ‘‘(b) CERTAIN DISTRIBUTIONS FROM QUALIFIED 13 DOMESTIC TRUSTS.—In applying section 2056A with re- 14 spect to the surviving spouse of a decedent dying before 15 the date of the enactment of the Death Tax Repeal Act— 16 ‘‘(1) section 2056A(b)(1)(A) shall not apply to 17 distributions made after the 10-year period begin- 18 ning on such date, and 19 ‘‘(2) section 2056A(b)(1)(B) shall not apply on 20 or after such date.’’. 21 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 22 tions for subchapter C of chapter 11 of the Internal 23 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the 24 end the following new item: 25 ‘‘Sec. 2210. Termination.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Jan 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H218.IH H218 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 218 IH (b) GENERATION-SKIPPING TRANSFER TAX RE- 1 PEAL.— 2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter G of chapter 13 3 of subtitle B of such Code is amended by adding at 4 the end the following new section: 5 ‘‘SEC. 2664. TERMINATION. 6 ‘‘This chapter shall not apply to generation-skipping 7 transfers on or after the date of the enactment of the 8 Death Tax Repeal Act.’’. 9 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 10 tions for subchapter G of chapter 13 of such Code 11 is amended by adding at the end the following new 12 item: 13 ‘‘Sec. 2664. Termination.’’. (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATED TO GIFT 14 TAX.— 15 (1) COMPUTATION OF GIFT TAX.—Subsection 16 (a) of section 2502 of the Internal Revenue Code of 17 1986 is amended to read as follows: 18 ‘‘(a) COMPUTATION OF TAX.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The tax imposed by section 20 2501 for each calendar year shall be an amount 21 equal to the excess of— 22 ‘‘(A) a tentative tax, computed under para- 23 graph (2), on the aggregate sum of the taxable 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Jan 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H218.IH H218 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 218 IH gifts for such calendar year and for each of the 1 preceding calendar periods, over 2 ‘‘(B) a tentative tax, computed under para- 3 graph (2), on the aggregate sum of the taxable 4 gifts for each of the preceding calendar periods. 5 ‘‘(2) RATE SCHEDULE.— 6 ‘‘If the amount with respect to which the tentative tax to be computed is: The tentative tax is: Not over $10,000 .......................... 18% of such amount. Over $10,000 but not over $20,000. $1,800, plus 20% of the excess over $10,000. Over $20,000 but not over $40,000. $3,800, plus 22% of the excess over $20,000. Over $40,000 but not over $60,000. $8,200, plus 24% of the excess over $40,000. Over $60,000 but not over $80,000. $13,000, plus 26% of the excess over $60,000. Over $80,000 but not over $100,000. $18,200, plus 28% of the excess over $80,000. Over $100,000 but not over $150,000. $23,800, plus 30% of the excess over $100,000. Over $150,000 but not over $250,000. $38,800, plus 32% of the excess of $150,000. Over $250,000 but not over $500,000. $70,800, plus 34% of the excess over $250,000. Over $500,000 ............................... $155,800, plus 35% of the excess of $500,000.’’. (2) LIFETIME GIFT EXEMPTION.— 7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of sec- 8 tion 2505(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 9 1986 is amended to read as follows: 10 ‘‘(1) the amount of the tentative tax which 11 would be determined under the rate schedule set 12 forth in section 2502(a)(2) if the amount with re- 13 spect to which such tentative tax is to be computed 14 were $10,000,000, reduced by’’. 15 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Jan 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H218.IH H218 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 218 IH (B) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—Section 1 2505 of such Code is amended by adding at the 2 end the following new subsection: 3 ‘‘(d) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any calendar 5 year after 2011, the dollar amount in subsection 6 (a)(1) shall be increased by an amount equal to— 7 ‘‘(A) such dollar amount, multiplied by 8 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter- 9 mined under section 1(f)(3) for such calendar 10 year by substituting ‘calendar year 2010’ for 11 ‘calendar year 2016’ in subparagraph (A)(ii) 12 thereof. 13 ‘‘(2) ROUNDING.—If any amount as adjusted 14 under paragraph (1) is not a multiple of $10,000, 15 such amount shall be rounded to the nearest mul- 16 tiple of $10,000.’’. 17 (3) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RE- 18 LATED TO GIFT TAX.— 19 (A) The heading for section 2505 of such 20 Code is amended by striking ‘‘UNIFIED’’. 21 (B) The item in the table of sections for 22 subchapter A of chapter 12 of such Code relat- 23 ing to section 2505 is amended to read as fol- 24 lows: 25 ‘‘Sec. 2505. Credit against gift tax.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Jan 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H218.IH H218 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 218 IH (C) Section 2801(a)(1) of such Code is 1 amended by striking ‘‘section 2001(c) as in ef- 2 fect on the date of such receipt’’ and inserting 3 ‘‘section 2502(a)(2)’’. 4 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 5 this section shall apply to estates of decedents dying, gen- 6 eration-skipping transfers, and gifts made, on or after the 7 date of the enactment of this Act. 8 (e) TRANSITION RULE.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of applying 10 sections 1015(d), 2502, and 2505 of the Internal 11 Revenue Code of 1986, the calendar year in which 12 this Act is enacted shall be treated as two separate 13 calendar years one of which ends on the day before 14 the date of the enactment of this Act and the other 15 of which begins on such date of enactment. 16 (2) APPLICATION OF SECTION 2504(b).—For 17 purposes of applying section 2504(b) of the Internal 18 Revenue Code of 1986, the calendar year in which 19 this Act is enacted shall be treated as one preceding 20 calendar period. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:29 Jan 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H218.IH H218 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS