What is an Estate Tax?
An Estate Tax is levied on the inherited portion of an estate of
an heir if the value of such an inheritance exceeds an exclusion
limit which has been set by the Law of the land. Different
countries have several variations of it, and a different
nomenclature, ranging from death tax, transfer tax, succession tax
to inheritance tax. While there may be different persons liable to
pay the same, the bottom line is that all these taxes are broadly
similar, generally being triggered by death. In all cases, the
inherited estate is not received in entirety by the beneficiary,
but a sizable chunk of it has to be paid to the State. Now
the liability of payment, i.e. who will pay the tax, may be
different in each case. Estate taxes are levied on the net
value of property owned by a deceased person on the date of their
death. In contrast, inheritance taxes are levied on the recipients
of the property. All these taxes are generally paired with some
kind of
