H.R. 1301: Death Tax Repeal Act

Introduced Feb 13, 2025182 cosponsors

Sponsor

Randy Feenstra

Republican · IA-4

Bill Progress

IntroducedFeb 13

Committee

Pass House

Pass Senate

Signed

Law

Latest Action · Feb 13, 2025

1/4

Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Congress wants to kill the federal estate tax

3 min readLast updated July 5, 2026

Why it matters

$10,000,000. That's the lifetime gift-tax exemption base this bill keeps even as it repeals the federal estate tax and the tax on transfers to grandchildren. If H.R. 1301 passes, large inheritances after enactment would no longer face those two federal taxes, while gift taxes would still apply under a new rate schedule.

H.R. 1301 would repeal the federal estate tax for people who die on or after the day the bill becomes law. It would also repeal the generation-skipping transfer tax for transfers made on or after that date, which matters when wealth is passed directly to grandchildren or later generations.

But this is not a full repeal of transfer taxes. The bill keeps the gift tax and replaces it with a rate table that starts at 18% and tops out at 35% on taxable gifts above $500,000.

It also keeps a lifetime gift-tax exemption base of $10,000,000, with inflation adjustments and rounding to the nearest $10,000. In practice, that means wealthy households could still move large amounts during life before gift tax fully kicks in.

There are transition rules too. Some older qualified domestic trust arrangements would see one tax end immediately, while another tax on trust distributions could continue for 10 years after enactment.

The enactment year would also be split in two for some gift-tax calculations, so gifts made before the bill becomes law and gifts made after could be treated differently in the same calendar year.

H.R. 1301 Bill Summary

What H.R. 1301 actually does.

Large inheritances stop facing the federal estate tax

The bill says the federal estate tax would no longer apply to estates of people who die on or after the date of enactment.

Transfers to grandchildren lose a separate federal tax

Generation-skipping transfers made on or after enactment would no longer face the federal tax that normally applies when assets skip a generation.

Lifetime gifts are still taxed

The bill keeps the gift tax, with rates starting at 18% and rising to 35% on taxable gifts above $500,000.

$10,000,000 gift-tax exemption stays in place

For gift taxes, the bill sets the lifetime exemption base at $10,000,000 and adjusts it for inflation, rounded to the nearest $10,000.

Some older trust rules phase out slowly

For certain pre-enactment qualified domestic trusts, one tax would end immediately, but tax on some trust distributions could continue for 10 years after enactment.

Gifts made before and after enactment get different treatment

If the bill becomes law midyear, some gift-tax calculations would treat the part of the year before enactment and the part after enactment as separate periods.

Who benefits from H.R. 1301?

Families passing on very large estates

If a family member dies after enactment, heirs would no longer owe the federal estate tax on that estate under H.R. 1301.

Families transferring wealth directly to grandchildren

The bill removes the separate federal tax on generation-skipping transfers made after enactment, which could lower taxes on multigenerational wealth transfers.

Owners of farms, closely held businesses, and high-value assets

Families with land, business ownership, or other major assets could have more flexibility in passing those holdings on without a federal estate tax at death.

High-wealth households making large lifetime gifts

The bill keeps a $10,000,000 lifetime gift-tax exemption base, so people transferring wealth while alive could still shield a substantial amount before gift tax applies.

Who is affected by H.R. 1301?

Taxpayers making large gifts during life

They would still owe gift tax after enactment under a rewritten rate table, even though the estate tax and generation-skipping tax would be repealed.

Families with older qualified domestic trusts

Some trust-related taxes would end right away, but tax on certain distributions could continue for a 10-year transition period.

Estate planners, tax lawyers, and accountants

They would need to sort out the bill's hard effective-date cutoff and the split-year rules for gifts made before and after enactment.

Federal budget writers

They would need to account for lost revenue from repealing the estate tax and generation-skipping tax, while still collecting some revenue from gift taxes.

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On the Record

What Congress Is Saying

H.R. 1301 has come up 5 times in the Congressional Record so far.

H.R. 1301 also appeared in 1 more House floor reference and 4 routine cosponsor filings.

HR1301 Legislative Journey

1 actions

House: Committee Action

Feb 13, 2025

Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

About the Sponsor

Randy Feenstra

Republican, Iowa's 4th congressional district · 5 years in Congress

Committees: Agriculture, Ways and Means

View full profile →

Cosponsors (182)

No new cosponsors in 73 days — momentum stalled

This bill has 182 cosponsors: 3 Democrats, 180 Republicans. Cosponsors represent 38 states: Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, and 35 more.

3Democrats180Republicans·38 states

Sanford Bishop

Democrat · GA

Jason Smith

Republican · MO

Tom Emmer

Republican · MN

Vern Buchanan

Republican · FL

David Rouzer

Republican · NC

Brad Finstad

Republican · MN

Charles Fleischmann

Republican · TN

Mark Amodei

Republican · NV

Claudia Tenney

Republican · NY

Scott Perry

Republican · PA

Daniel Meuser

Republican · PA

Dale Strong

Republican · AL

Cosponsor Coverage Map

Committee Sponsors

Ways and Means Committee

19D26R

|22 signed23 not yet

22 of 45 committee members cosponsored

4 Republicans across this committee haven't cosponsored yet. Mobilize their constituents

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What laws does H.R. 1301 change?

4 changes

Full Text

Sections Amended

Section 2502 of Internal Revenue Code of 1986

read as follows: ``(a) Computation of Tax

Section 2505(a) of Internal Revenue Code of 1986

read as follows: ``(1) the amount of the tentative tax which would be determined under the rate schedule set forth in section 2502(a)(2) if the amount with respect to which such tentative tax is to be computed were $10,000,000, reduced by''

Section 2505 of such Code

adding at the end the following new subsection: ``(d) Inflation Adjustment

Section 2505 of such Code

striking ``unified''

H.R. 1301 Quick Facts

Cosponsors

182

+177 more

Committee: Ways and Means
Chamber: House
Policy: Taxation
Introduced: Feb 13, 2025

Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Feb 13, 2025

Constituent Resources

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Official Sources

H.R. 1301 on Congress.gov

Official bill page with status, text, cosponsors, and actions for the Death Tax Repeal Act.

IRS Estate and Gift Taxes

IRS overview page explaining the federal estate tax and gift tax that H.R. 1301 would partly repeal and partly retain.

IRS Instructions for Form 709

Official IRS instructions for the United States Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, relevant to the bill's retained gift tax and exemption rules.

26 U.S. Code Subtitle B — Estate and Gift Taxes

Official U.S. Code text for the estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax subtitle that H.R. 1301 would amend.

26 U.S. Code § 2502 — Computation of Gift Tax

Official U.S. Code section governing gift-tax computation, directly relevant to the bill's replacement gift-tax rate table.

26 U.S. Code § 2511 — Transfers in General

Official statute on the scope of taxable gifts, useful for understanding what transfers would still be subject to gift tax under the bill.

26 U.S. Code § 2056A — Qualified Domestic Trusts

Official U.S. Code section for qualified domestic trusts, which the bill addresses through transition rules for older QDOT arrangements.

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H.R. 1301 Common Questions

Does H.R. 1301 repeal the federal estate tax?

Yes. H.R. 1301 says the federal estate tax would no longer apply to estates of people who die on or after the bill's enactment date.

Would gift tax still exist under H.R. 1301?

Yes. The bill repeals the estate tax and generation-skipping tax, but keeps gift tax with new rates ranging from 18% to 35%.

What is the gift-tax exemption in H.R. 1301?

The bill sets the lifetime gift-tax exemption base at $10,000,000, with inflation adjustments and rounding to the nearest $10,000.

What is the top gift-tax rate in H.R. 1301?

The top rate is 35% on taxable gifts above $500,000. The bill's rate table starts at 18% for smaller taxable gifts.

Does H.R. 1301 end the tax on transfers to grandchildren?

Yes. H.R. 1301 repeals the federal generation-skipping transfer tax for transfers made on or after enactment.

What happens to older QDOT estate plans under H.R. 1301?

The bill creates a mixed transition. One QDOT tax would end immediately after enactment, but tax on some trust distributions could continue for 10 years.