Optimal Taxation of Bequests

A critique of Kaplow's (2001) optimal taxation (OT) framework for assessing inheritance taxation is outlined in this paper. Several points are raised, the most important one being that Kaplow's central result cannot be extrapolated to the important case of altruism very easily. Several formal problems of modelling altruism are discussed. Finally, I propose a simple OT model which can justify a marginal subsidy of bequests, and point out the limits of this approach