The New Estate Tax
The Ways and Means plan included an estate tax with a rate ranging from 1 percent to 5 percent and an exemption of $50,000. (The value of this exemption in today’s dollars is the subject of some dispute. Estimates range from roughly $900,000 to more than $11 million, depending on the method and political agenda at work. Calculations based on the commodity price index — popular among estate tax supporters — yield the lower number; calculations based on gross domestic product — popular among opponents — yield the higher estimate. For a useful survey of relative value calculations, see the calculator at http://www.eh.net/hmit/compare.)
Tax History Project — A Century of Soaking the Rich — The Origins of the Federal Estate Tax.