TY  - JOUR
AU  - Joulfaian,David
TI  - Estate Taxes and Charitable Bequests by the Wealthy
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 7663
PY  - 2000
Y2  - April 2000
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7663
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7663.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
David Joulfaian
Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC  20220
Tel: 202-622-0234
Fax: 202-622-2265
E-Mail: david.joulfaian@treasury.gov
AB  - Charitable bequests are an important source of philanthropic support.  Unlike bequests to children which can be taxed at a maximum statutory rate of 0.55, such transfers are exempt from estate taxation.  Thus, by lowering the price of charitable giving, the estate tax may influence the disposition of terminal wealth.  In this paper, I examine the effects of estate taxation on charitable bequests using data from estate tax returns of decedents in 1992.  The results suggest that the estate tax deduction is  budget' efficient.  The overall effects of the estate tax, however, are likely to be modest as charitable bequests are wealth elastic.
ER  -