S 38 IS
106th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 38
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to phase out the estate
and gift taxes over a 10-year period.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 19, 1999
Mr. CAMPBELL (for himself, Mr. MACK, and Mrs. HUTCHISON) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to phase out the estate
and gift taxes over a 10-year period.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Estate and Gift Tax Rate Reduction Act of
1999'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds and declares that--
(1) estate and gift tax rates, which reach as high as 55 percent of a
decedent's taxable estate, are in most cases substantially in excess of the
tax rates imposed on the same amount of regular income and capital gains
income; and
(2) a reduction in estate and gift tax rates to a level more comparable
with the rates of tax imposed on regular income and capital gains income
will make the estate and gift tax less confiscatory and mitigate its
negative impacts on American families and businesses.
SEC. 3. PHASEOUT OF ESTATE AND GIFT TAXES.
(a) REPEAL OF ESTATE AND GIFT TAXES- Subtitle B of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 (relating to estate and gift taxes) is repealed effective with
respect to estates of decedents dying, and gifts made, after December 31,
2009.
(b) PHASEOUT OF TAX- Subsection (c) of section 2001 of such Code (relating
to imposition and rate of tax) is amended by adding at the end the following
new paragraph:
`(3) PHASEOUT OF TAX- In the case of estates of decedents dying, and
gifts made, during any calendar year after 1999 and before 2010--
`(A) IN GENERAL- The tentative tax under this subsection shall be
determined by using a table prescribed by the Secretary (in lieu of using
the table contained in paragraph (1)) which is the same as such table;
except that--
`(i) each of the rates of tax shall be reduced (but not below zero)
by the number of percentage points determined under subparagraph (B),
and
`(ii) the amounts setting forth the tax shall be adjusted to the
extent necessary to reflect the adjustments under clause
(i).
`(B) PERCENTAGE POINTS OF REDUCTION-
The number of
`For calendar year:
percentage points is:
2000
5
2001
10
2002
15
2003
20
2004
25
2005
30
2006
35
2007
40
2008
45
2009
50.
`(C) COORDINATION WITH PARAGRAPH (2)- Paragraph (2) shall be applied
by reducing the 55 percent percentage contained therein by the number of
percentage points determined for such calendar year under subparagraph
(B).
`(D) COORDINATION WITH CREDIT FOR STATE DEATH TAXES- Rules similar to
the rules of subparagraph (A) shall apply to the table contained in
section 2011(b) except that the number of percentage points referred to in
subparagraph (A)(i) shall be determined under the following
table:
The number of
`For calendar year:
percentage points is:
2000
1 1/2
2001
3
2002
4 1/2
2003
6
2004
7 1/2
2005
9
2006
10 1/2
2007
12
2008
13 1/2
2009
15.'
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE- The amendments made by this section shall apply to
estates of decedents dying, and gifts made, after December 31, 1999.
END