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estate, less specified deductions. Sec. 2051. Federal estate
taxes are not a permissible deduction from the gross estate. The
value of the gross estate generally includes the value of all
property to the extent of the interest therein of the decedent at
the time of his death. Secs. 2031, 2033.
Petitioner "acknowledges the power of the federal government
to impose an estate tax", but "challenges the application of the
current estate tax to property which is not transferred, but
which is instead required to be paid to the federal government in
the form of estate taxes". According to petitioner's argument,
the constitutionality of the estate tax depends upon its status
as an excise tax imposed upon the transfer of property at death.
Because the estate tax is calculated using the taxable estate as
a base (i.e., with no deduction for estate tax paid), a portion
of the tax collected by the Government is imposed on property
that is not susceptible of transfer by the decedent but instead
is required to be paid to the Government in the form of the
estate tax. This portion is thus, in petitioner's terms, "a tax
on tax payment", and such treatment makes the computation of the
estate tax “tax inclusive”. As a result, petitioner contends,
the portion of the estate tax attributable to property that is
paid to the Government in satisfaction of the estate tax is not a
mere excise tax on the transfer of property at death but a direct
tax on the value of the property itself, which is
unconstitutional because it is not apportioned in accordance with
Article I, Section 9, Clause 4 of the Constitution.
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