Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text: CR S977-978)
The bill (Death Tax Repeal Act of 2025) repeals the Federal estate tax and the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax for deaths and GST transfers occurring after enactment. It preserves and restructures the gift tax: a new graduated gift tax rate schedule (18%–35%), a lifetime-gift credit tied to a $10,000,000 base amount with inflation indexing, and rules treating many transfers into trusts as taxable gifts unless the trust is treated as wholly owned by the donor or spouse.
Left emphasizes revenue loss and inequality impacts
Substantive, fiscally costly tax-cut legislation tends to be contentious but often more attainable in the lower chamber; partisan cleavage likely raises difficulty.
The bill (Death Tax Repeal Act of 2025) repeals the Federal estate tax and the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax for deaths and GST transfers occurring after enactment.
It preserves and restructures the gift tax: a new graduated gift tax rate schedule (18%–35%), a lifetime-gift credit tied to a $10,000,000 base amount with inflation indexing, and rules treating many transfers into trusts as taxable gifts unless the trust is treated as wholly owned by the donor or spouse.
The bill includes limited transitional rules, special treatment for certain qualified domestic trusts (QDOTs) tied to decedents who died before enactment, and effective dates applying post-enactment.
Large, partisan tax change with major revenue implications and weak compromise features has low chance without strong bipartisan agreement or procedural mechanisms.
How solid the drafting looks.
Left emphasizes revenue loss and inequality impacts
These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.
Left emphasizes revenue loss and inequality impacts
Overall likely to oppose the bill.
Repealing estate and GST taxes reduces progressivity and could accelerate wealth concentration, while gift-tax changes appear insufficient to offset those effects.
The QDOT language and trust treatment raise concerns about new avenues for tax avoidance.
Mixed view: appreciates simplification and relief for family businesses, but worried about fiscal impacts and inequality.
Would want scorekeeping on revenue and practical effects on farms/businesses versus wealthy estates.
May condition support on offsets or tightening of avoidance loopholes.
Overall strongly supportive.
Repealing estate and GST taxes removes what many conservatives view as punitive double taxation and barriers to passing family businesses.
Keeping a gift tax with defined rates still prevents unlimited untaxed transfers.
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Still ahead
Still ahead
Still ahead
Large, partisan tax change with major revenue implications and weak compromise features has low chance without strong bipartisan agreement or procedural mechanisms.
The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.
Left emphasizes revenue loss and inequality impacts
Large, partisan tax change with major revenue implications and weak compromise features has low chance without strong bipartisan agreement…
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