Stronger estate tax would hit more inheritances under Democrats' plan

A historic low number of estates paid taxes in 2020, underscoring how much that tax has weakened in the last two decades. But Democrats are looking to change that as part of their tax hikes targeting the wealthy.

Democratic lawmakers want to tax estates worth $5.85 million or more — reverting back to the same exemption amount as in 2017. Currently, only estates worth $11.7 million are taxed. The move would subject more estates to the tax starting next year.

“Estate taxes have basically been gutted over the last couple of decades,” Samantha Jacoby, senior tax legal analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told Yahoo Money. “It’s easy to plan around. It's easy for wealthy people with sophisticated advisers to avoid it entirely, and even when people do pay it is a relatively low rate.”