Inheritance Tax Around the Globe Over Two Centuries: Revenue and Distributional Implications

with: Twisha Asher, Salvatore Morelli, Manuel Schechtl, and Francesca Subioli

Abstract

This paper introduces a novel global database on estate, inheritance, and gift (EIG) taxation, which covers more than 160 countries — some with data going back to the 18th century — and represents over 90% of the world’s population and GDP. Using this comprehensive and harmonised dataset, we document long-term global trends in EIG taxation, and we estimate the elasticity of EIG tax revenues with respect to top marginal rates.