Estate and Gift Tax Amendments of 1979
Latest action. Referred to Senate Committee on Finance.
Estate and Gift Tax Amendments of 1979 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide an unlimited marital deduction for estate and gift tax purposes. Increases from 50 percent to 65 percent the amount of the adjusted value of a gross estate which a qualified farm property must constitute before the special use valuation for farms and other closely held businesses is applicable to such estate. Eliminates the "material participation" requirements for the application of such special use valuation. Repeals the $500,000 limitation on the reduction of the value of qualified real property permitted for application of the special use valuation. Reduces from 15 to ten years the length of time a qualified property must be held following decedent's death before it can be sold or otherwise disposed of without incurring a recapture of estate tax benefits. Exempts from such recapture requirements any exchange of qualified real property, within the ten year period, for other qualified real property. Repeals the requirement that an heir elect special treatment for involuntary conversions of qualified real property, thus making such treatment automatic upon such a conversion. Provides for valuation of qualified real property for estate tax purposes on the basis of net share rentals (the excess of the value of the produce received by the lessor of the land over the cash operating expenses of growing such produce), whenever the average gross cash rental basis would be inappropriate. Increases from $3,000 to $6,000 the annual gift tax exclusion. Includes only the excess of such exclusion in the value of the gross estate of a decedent where the gift was made within three years before such decedent's death.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on November 6, 1979. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on November 6, 1979: Referred to Senate Committee on Finance.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
MALCOLM WALLOP (R-WY) introduced it on November 6, 1979, and 12 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 4 Democrats, 8 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on November 6, 1979, 17110 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 17110 days ago, on November 6, 1979.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers