A Guide to the Estate and Gift Tax Amendments of 1970

The Excise, Estate, and Gift Tax Adjustment Act of 1970 [Pub. L. No. 91-614 (Dec. 31, 1970) made a number of amendments to the federal estate and gift tax laws. The estate tax laws were amended to shorten the period of time for filing estate tax returns and for the alternate valuation date and for several related items. In addition, for income tax purposes, the holding period of property that was included in a decedent's gross estate and that was acquired from the decedent was altered; and fiduciaries were granted additional means of obtaining a discharge of their personal liability for estate taxes or other taxes owed by the decedent at his death. The gift tax laws were amended to require that, beginning with the year 1971, gift tax returns be filed and the gift tax paid on a quarterly basis rather than annually, which had been the procedure prior to the 1970 Act. This article will discuss only those changes affecting estate and gift taxes. The 1970 Act also contained amendments concerning excise taxes and other matters that will not be covered here.