Savings & Retirement
Ultra-Rich Skip Estate Tax and Spark a 50% Collapse in IRS Revenue
- Levies from U.S. estate tax have tumbled since 2017 overhaul
- U.S. billionaires doubled their wealth in the past five years
Internal Revenue Service headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Revenue from the U.S. estate tax has been cut in half in two years, new data from the Internal Revenue Service shows, even as dynastic wealth soars.
Just 1,275 wealthy families paid $9.3 billion in estate tax to the U.S. Treasury in 2020. As recently as 2018, the IRS collected more than $20 billion from nearly 5,500 families.