Pre-death gifts and regressive wealth transfer taxation: Evidence from Belgium

Arthur Apostel ()
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Arthur Apostel: -

Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium from Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration

Abstract: The Belgian wealth transfer tax system stands out internationally by the large wedge between inheritance and gift tax rates, even shortly before death. I document an increased use of gifts at the top of the distribution, thereby rendering the wealth transfer tax system regressive at the very top despite highly progressive inheritance tax rates. I further analyze the wealth transfer distribution by gender, age, region, and education. The research is based on 2009-2022 administrative inheritance tax data with full population coverage, linked to gift tax microdata, census data, and national registry data. I compare the administrative transfer flows to HFCS survey data, finding substantial undercoverage in HFCS data. This finding suggests caution in interpreting survey-based estimates of wealth transfer flows.

Keywords: Inheritance; gift; wealth transfer; inequality; Belgium (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D3 G5 H2 N3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29 pages
Date: 2026-05
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:rug:rugwps:26/1144

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