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Dying to Save Taxes: Evidence from Estate Tax Returns on the Death Elasticity

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Wojciech Kopczuk
Joel Slemrod

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Abstract

This paper examines data from U.S. federal tax returns to shed light on whether the timing of death is responsive to its tax consequences. We investigate the temporal pattern of deaths around the time of changes in the estate tax system periods when living longer, or dying sooner, could significantly affect estate tax liability. We find some evidence that there is a small death elasticity, although we cannot rule out that what we have uncovered is ex post doctoring of the reported date of death. However, the fact that we find that postponement, rather than acceleration, of death is more likely to occur suggests that this phenomenon is at last partly a real (albeit timing) response to taxation.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 8158.

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Date of creation: Mar 2001
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:8158

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H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Myron S. Scholes & G. Peter Wilson & Mark A. Wolfson, 1992. "Firms' Responses to Anticipated Reductions in Tax Rates: The Tax Reform Act of 1986," NBER Working Papers 4171, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Joel Slemrod & Wojciech Kopczuk, 2000. "The Impact of the Estate Tax on the Wealth Accumulation and Avoidance Behavior of Donors," NBER Working Papers 7960, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Austan Goolsbee, 2000. "What Happens When You Tax the Rich? Evidence from Executive Compensation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(2), pages 352-378, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Stacy Dickert-Conlin & Amitabh Chandra, 1999. "Taxes and the Timing of Birth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(1), pages 161-177, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  1. William G. Gale & Joel B. Slemrod, 2001. "Rethinking the Estate and Gift Tax: Overview," NBER Working Papers 8205, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Jonathan Skinner & Stephen P. Zeldes, 2002. "The Importance of Bequests and Life-Cycle Saving in Capital Accumulation: A New Answer," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 274-278, May. [Downloadable!]
  3. Joshua Gans & Andrew Leigh, 2006. "Did the Death of Australian Inheritance Taxes Affect Deaths?," Topics in Economic Analysis & Policy, Berkeley Electronic Press, vol. 6(1), pages 1654-1654. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Eliason, Marcus & Ohlsson, Henry, 2007. "Living to Save Taxes," Working Paper Series 2007:8, Uppsala University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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