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Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jun 25, 2015
Responsible Estate Tax Act
Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxes, to: (1) revise estate tax rates to impose an increased tax for estates over $3.5 million and a maximum tax rate of 55% for estates over $50 million, (2) impose a 10% surtax on estates over $500 million, (3) reduce the basic estate tax exclusion amount to $3.5 million, (4) increase to $3 million the reduction in valuations of farmland for estate tax purposes and adjust such increased amount for inflation after 2014, and (5) increase to $2 million the maximum estate tax exclusion for contributions of conservation easements.
Requires that the value of the basis in any property acquired from a decedent or by gift be consistent with the basis as determined for estate and gift tax purposes. Requires executors of estates and donors of gifts required to file a gift tax return to disclose to the Department of the Treasury, and to recipients of any interest in an estate or a gift, information identifying the value of each interest received.
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Sets forth estate valuation rules for certain transfers of nonbusiness assets and limits estate tax discounts for certain individuals with minority interests in a business acquired from a decedent.
Expands rules for valuing assets in grantor retained annuity trusts to require that: (1) the right to receive fixed amounts from an annuity last for a term of not less than 10 years and that such fixed amounts not decrease during the first 10 years of the annuity term, and (2) the remainder interest have a value greater than 10% when transferred.
Sets forth rules for the application of transfer taxes to a grantor trust (a trust in which the grantor retains control over the trust assets and has the right to receive income from the trust). Eliminates the generation-skipping transfer tax exemption for any trust whose termination date is not greater than 50 years after its creation.
Modifies the annual gift tax exclusion (currently, $14,000 per donee) to limit the aggregate annual amount of such exclusion to twice the current exclusion amount for certain types of transfers, specifically a transfer in trust, a transfer of an interest in a pass through entity, a transfer of an interest subject to a prohibition on sale, and any other transfer of property that cannot be immediately liquidated by the donee.
People & committees
Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT] · I–VT
Legislative record
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Dec 5, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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