The Pentera Blog
Far Fewer Estates Are Filing Tax Returns—But the Bequest Totals Are About the Same
The total dollar amount of bequests from estates filing tax returns with the IRS is holding steady—even though there has been a decrease of about 50% in the number of estates filing returns. The figures on the IRS filings are part of Giving USA 2021, the annual report on charitable giving that was published this summer.
The 2018 doubling of the estate-tax exemption—from $5.5 million to $11.2 million—has had the expected effect of significantly reducing the number of estates filing tax returns. In 2017, the year before the exemption increase, 12,711 estates filed returns. In 2019, the year after the change (and the most recent year for which IRS statistics are available), just 6,409 estates filed returns. That's a decline of 50.4%.
But even though half as many estates are filing tax returns, the total dollar figures have not declined. In 2017, charitable deductions from estates totaled $21.0 billion, while in 2019 charitable deductions from estates totaled $21.9 billion.
The bequest total has not fallen because the fewer estates that are claiming deductions for charitable contributions are larger and are giving more. "Estates worth $50 million or more claimed by far the largest proportion of the total dollar amount of charitable deductions in 2019 (70.7 percent)," the report states.
The complete report is available from givingusa.org.
