The United States’ Economic Recovery Tax Act (ERTA) of 1981 began a multi-year shift toward lighter federal transfer taxes. Among other changes, it phased in a higher estate-tax exemption, reducing how many estates owed tax and influencing later debates about wealth concentration and intergenerational transfers.
India removed its national estate duty for estates passing on deaths occurring on or after March 16, 1985. Officials argued that the tax raised little revenue and created high administrative burden, marking an important example of a country stepping away from inheritance taxation during this period.
The UK’s inheritance tax system uses a “nil-rate band,” the amount that can be passed on before inheritance tax applies. Government tables track the nil-rate band from March 1986 onward, showing how thresholds became a central policy lever for adjusting the tax’s reach over time.
The U.S. Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) of 2001 launched a schedule of estate-tax changes that culminated in repeal for 2010, with a later return under different rules. This approach—large changes with sunset dates—shaped long-running uncertainty in U.S. estate-tax planning and reform politics.
Portugal abolished its inheritance tax in 2004 and shifted to a stamp duty approach on certain transfers. Under this framework, close family members (such as spouses and direct descendants) are generally exempt, while a 10% stamp duty can apply to other beneficiaries on Portuguese-situated assets.
Sweden abolished its inheritance tax at the end of 2004, with the effective cutoff widely treated as mid-December 2004 for many cases. The reform is often cited as part of a broader trend in some European countries to remove inheritance taxes while relying more on other parts of the tax system.
The UK introduced the transferable nil-rate band for spouses and civil partners, allowing the unused portion of the first partner’s nil-rate band to be claimed on the second partner’s death. This reform reduced inheritance-tax liability for many married couples and changed common estate-planning strategies.
Austria abolished inheritance and gift taxes effective August 1, 2008. The change reflected a shift away from taxing wealth transfers at death (though other taxes and reporting requirements can still apply in related contexts).
From the 2009–2010 tax year, the UK set the inheritance-tax nil-rate band at £325,000, where it remained for many years. When thresholds do not rise with inflation, more estates can become taxable over time, even without changes in real wealth.
After the one-year repeal scheduled under EGTRRA, the 2010 tax compromise restored the U.S. federal estate tax and set new, higher exemption rules for 2011–2012. This marked a major turning point, showing how quickly inheritance-tax policy could swing with political negotiations.
Norway abolished inheritance tax effective January 1, 2014. As part of the broader shift, Norway emphasized a “continuity principle,” meaning heirs generally take over the original tax basis (cost) of assets—moving part of the tax burden from inheritance to later capital gains taxation.
Japan significantly reduced its inheritance-tax basic deduction in 2015, bringing more estates into the tax base. The change is often discussed as part of Japan’s efforts to strengthen revenue and address concerns about wealth concentration in an aging society.
The UK’s Summer Budget 2015 announced an additional inheritance-tax allowance for a main residence left to direct descendants (often called the residence nil-rate band). The policy aimed to reduce inheritance tax on family homes for many households, while adding new eligibility rules and tapering for larger estates.
The UK’s residence nil-rate band began in the 2017–2018 tax year, adding a separate allowance on top of the standard nil-rate band when a qualifying home is passed to direct descendants. This increased the potential tax-free amount for some estates but also made inheritance tax rules more complex.
The U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) doubled the federal estate and gift tax exemption beginning in 2018 (with inflation adjustments), while keeping the top rate at 40%. Because the increase was scheduled to expire after 2025 under the original law, it also set up a future policy decision point.
In 2021, the OECD published a comparative assessment of inheritance, estate, and gift taxes across member countries. The report summarized how widely designs vary, highlighted the link between inherited wealth and inequality, and laid out common reform options such as broadening bases, redesigning reliefs, and aligning inheritance with capital-gains taxation.
UK policy statements and legislation continued freezing the main nil-rate band and residence nil-rate band for additional years, rather than indexing them upward. This type of reform—sometimes called “fiscal drag”—can gradually increase the number of taxable estates without changing headline tax rates.
Inheritance and estate tax reforms worldwide (1980–2023)