Effect of Estate Tax Repeal in Italy

A recent Italian survey looked at the effect the repeal of the estate tax in Italy.  The survey reveals that without an estate tax, real estate transfers between generations have increased by about 2%. A report on the survey concludes that "since in Italy the ratio of real estate assets to total wealth exceeds 85% for [people over 60], it is likely that at least part of the increase in the propensity to bequeath real estates is a genuine effect" of the estate tax repeal in the country.  Tullio Jappelli, Mario Padula & Giovanni Pica, Estate taxation and intergenerational transfers, vox, Feb. 26, 2010.

Special thanks to Hani Sarji (LL.M. in Tax candidate at New York Law School) for bringing this to my attention.