Foster, J D <br/><br/>
The estate tax drag on family businesses 
Foster, J D. 
 -  1996 
 - 233 - 252 
<br/><br/> This essay considers estate taxes and their effect upon  entrepreneurial activity and family business. After a brief history of estate taxes, estate compositions and tax burdens are addressed. Finally, a simulation model is used to quantify the disincentive effect of estate taxation upon wealth accumulation. The simulation model suggests that estate taxes have the same disincentive effect as would a 67% individual tax rate or a 67.85% corporate tax rate. Thus, it would be necessary to roughly double the individual and corporate tax rates to reduce bequests to the level under the current estate tax regime.