Nov-22-2024 - We fixed a syntax error in the 2024 links to the IRS Revenue Rulings on the IRS website that provide quarterly interest rate information. These links are located in Legal and Procedural Updates and Interest Rates.

Oct-23-2024 - Our Table, Calculating the 2% Portion of Deferred Tax 1998 - 2025, is updated with the official figures for 2025. The maximum amount of tax deferred at the 2% rate will be $760,000.

Nov-10-2023 - Our Table, Calculating the 2% Portion of Deferred Tax 1998 - 2024, is updated with the official figures for 2024. The maximum amount of tax deferred at the 2% rate will be $740,000.

Oct-31-2022 - Our Table, Calculating the 2% Portion of Deferred Tax 1998 - 2023, is updated with the official figures for 2023. The maximum amount of tax deferred at the 2% rate will be $700,000.

Sep-26-2021 - Our Table, Calculating the 2% Portion of Deferred Tax 1998 - 2022, is updated with the projected figures for 2022. The maximum amount of tax deferred at the 2% rate will be $656,000.

Aug-26-2021 - IRS interest rates remain the same for the 4th quarter of 2021. See Revenue Ruling 2021-17.

Jun-14-2021 - Older links to the XML version of the electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR) are being updated with direct links to the beta version of the current eCFR. We find the beta version to be more visually appealing and user friendly. 

May-27-2021 - IRS interest rates remain the same for the 3rd quarter of 2021. See Revenue Ruling 2021-10.

May-19-2021 - We are adding links to various electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR) sections that are posted in beta format. See e.g. Procedural Part. 301 Regulations in eCFR (beta) and Reg. 301-7701-1 (eCFR beta). We believe that the beta version is more visually appealing and easier to use. 

Mar-02-2021 -  IRS interest rates remain the same for the second quarter of 2021. See Revenue Ruling 2021-6.

Feb-17-2021 - Links are added under IRS Resources to IRM 3.11.106, processing estate and gift tax returns, and IRM 3.11.106.18.8, processing Forms 4768 and section 6163 and 6166 elections.

Dec-04-2020 - IRS interest rates remain the same for the first quarter of 2021. See Revenue Ruling 2020-28. 

Nov-11-2020 -  The page, Form 4349 - Computation of Estate Tax Due With Return and Annual Installment, has been revised to incorporate the December 2016 revision and current Appeals IRM references. Some explanatory comment has been added to our page text. The only difference between the 2016 revision and the earlier revision was to remove references to repealed section 6166A. The mathematics otherwise remain as before, since IRS practice had been to substitute sections 6166(b)(7), 6166(b)(8), or 6166(b)(10) amounts due on line 8a. (A link to a blank Form 4349 is added to the list of Forms and Instructions under IRS Resources.)

Nov-04-2020 -  Our page Selected Public Laws Affecting Estate Tax is updated with links to PL 93-625, the 1975 Act amending tariff schedules, and PL 85-866, the Technical Amendments Act of 1958, section 206 of which (at page 1681) added Section 6166 to the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.

Oct-27-2020 -  A link to Rev. Proc. 2020-45 is placed under our table, Calculating the 2% Portion of Deferred Tax. Items .41 and .51 of the Revenue Procedure confirm the projected 2021 figures posted in our table.

Sep-15-2020 -  Our table, Calculating the 2% Portion of Deferred Tax, is updated with the projected figures for 2021. The portion of tax deferred at 2% will be $636,000.

Sep-03-2020 - IRS interest rates remain the same for the fourth quarter of 2020. See Revenue Ruling 2020-18.

Aug-27-2020 - The page Bifurcation Concepts has been edited to more clearly illustrate the concepts involved in bifurcated section 6166 elections.

Aug-25-2020 - We updated our IRS Contact Number information to provide a link to the IRS website for the latest Covid-19 information, including how to contact various functions within IRS. Cincinnati Campus is not currently accepting telephone calls at its toll-free number 866.699.4083.

Aug-19-2020 - A fourth computation example illustrates the effects of the Covid-19 IRS Notice 2020-23 automatic extensions of due dates on recalculated payments due under sections 6166 and 6161 elections after a supplemental return is filed to claim a deduction for the section 6621 interest paid. See -

Aug-10-2020 - Several computation examples are posted to illustrate the effects of the Covid-19 IRS Notice 2020-23 automatic extensions of due dates for certain payments due under sections 6166 and 6161 elections. See -

Jul-22-2020 - Our page The Return Due Date has been expanded to include provisions with respect to determining the section 6166 installment due dates when the original return due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, or when the executor selects a month other than an anniversary month of the original return due date for payment of the first installment.

Jun-05-2020 -  Interest rates decrease for the third quarter of 2020 beginning July 1. See Revenue Ruling 2020-13.

Mar-13-2020 - Interest rates remain the same for the second quarter of 2020 beginning April 1. See Revenue Ruling 2020-07.

Feb-18-2020 - We edited the explanatory language to further clarify why the passive asset rules of subsection 6166(b)(9) do not apply for purposes of the 35% test when section 6166 interests are sold shortly after death. Our commentary for Section 6166(g)(1)(A) has also been edited.

Nov-07-2019 -  Our table, Calculating the 2% Portion of Deferred Tax, has been updated with a reference fo Rev. Proc. 2019-44, which provides the estate and gift tax inflation-adjusted amounts for 2020. The maximum 2% portion of deferred tax for estates of decedents dying in 2020 is $628,000. 

Oct-28-2019 - A link to a new page, Section 6166(b)(9) Passive Asset Rules Do Not Apply After Date of Death for Purposes of the 35% Test, is located under the green title bar, Section 6166(b)(9) - Deferral Not Available for Passive Assets. In addition, the page illustrating section 6166 Bifurcation Concepts has been updated with the latest information from the Estate and Gift Tax IRMs.

Sep-16-2019 - Our table, Calculating the 2% Portion of Deferred Tax, has been updated with the 2020 inflation factor. The maximum 2% portion of deferred tax for estates of decedents dying in 2020 will be $628,000. 

Aug-26-2019 -  A link to P.L. 91-614, Excise, Estate, and Gift Tax Adjustment Act of 1970, is added to our list of Selected Public Laws Affecting Federal Estate Tax. Section 101(b) of the Act amended section 6075(a) to reduce the estate tax return filing due date from 15 months to 9 months, effective for estates of decedents dying after 1970.

Aug-22-2019 - Rev. Rul. 76-51, amplifying Rev. Rul. 67-161, Illustrated, and Rev. Rul. 81-294 Illustrated have been added under Revenue Rulings, above.

Aug-07-2019 - Links to Form 3520, Annual Return to Report Transactions With Foreign Trusts and Receipt of Certain Foreign Gifts, and Form 3520 Instructions have been added under Forms and Instructions, above.

Jul-24-2019 - Section 6166(e) Overview is updated with references to Rev. Rul. 81-294 and Rev. Rul. 81-294 Illustrated.

Jul-09-2019 - The page Section 6166(j) Overview has been updated with a reference to Reg. 301.9100-6T(k), which requires that a section 6166(b)(8) election must contain a reference to either "section 6166(b)(8)" or "section 1021(d)(2) of the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984".

Jun-24-2019 - We updated references to the Campus IRM in our page Supplemental Estate Tax Returns.

Jun-17-2019 - Our page Who is Eligible has been updated with a reference to PLR 201924009, in which IRS ruled that a taxpayer who acquired his citizenship by reason of his residence within a possession of the United States, and not on account of his birth, is not a citizen for estate and gift transfer taxes.

Jun-13-2019 - We updated our notes to show the continuing role of Cincinnati Campus with 6166 account maintenance and status updates for filed 706 returns even after Form 706 returns will be filed at Kansas City beginning July 1, 2019. See our page IRS Contact Number. We also updated our page Bifurcation Concepts to note that bifurcated 6166 elections continue to be filed with and accepted by IRS.

May-26-2019 - We added a link above to the IRS Draft Forms and Instructions from 2012 to date. Included therein are links to the following 2019 estate tax draft forms: Form 706; Form 706-A; Form 706-NA; Form 706-GS(D); Form 706-GS(D) Instructions; Form 706-QDT; and Form 706-QDT Instructions. We also updated the Form 13925 link to the 2018 version.

Apr-16-2019 - A note regarding the requirement that estate tax returns be filed at Kansas City beginning July 1, 2019 and the open question whether Cincinnati or Kansas City will be responsible for future section 6166 accounts maintenance is posted in our page IRS Contact Number.

Mar-06-2019 - Our page, Bifurcation Concepts, was updated to reference the updated Campus Procedures for Estate and Gift Tax, IRM 4.25.2.1, published Aug-30-2018. The previous IRM version from 2009 specifically mentioned bifurcation of tax extended under section 6166; the current version does not. Nevertheless, we believe that IRS continues to accept bifurcation elections.

Feb-26-2019 - The IRS interest rates remain unchanged in the second quarter of 2019. We added a link to Revenue Ruling 2019-05 in the Interest Rates panel.

Feb-14-2019 - A link to Form 8855, Election to Teat a Qualified Revocable Trust as Part of an Estate, has been added to our list of IRS forms under IRS Resources, Forms and Instructions, above.

Feb-04-2019 - Links to Form 56, Form 56 Instructions, and Form 4810 have been added to our list of Forms and Instructions under IRS Resources in the left column on our Home Page.

Jan-16-2019 - We updated our hardcopy page, Section 6166(k)(4) Overview - Section 6601(j), to reflect the amendment made to section 6601(j)(3)(B) by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, PL 115-97. (The link to section 6601(j) embedded in our page brought up the current on-line version of the statute.)

Nov-15-2018 - We updated our table, Calculating the 2% Portion of Deferred Tax, to reflect the inflation adjustments made in Rev. Proc. 2018-57. The maximum amount of tax deferred at 2% for dates of death in 2019 is $620,000.

Oct-22-2018 - Under Code and Regs in the top menu bar, the links under Regulations to Estate Tax Part 22 Temporary Regulations; Part 25 Gift Tax Regulations; and Part 26 GST Regulations have been updated to link to the respective current e-CFR regulations rather than to the static XML files.

Sep-17-2018 - We revised the 2018 row of figures in Calculating the 2% Portion of Deferred Tax to reflect a re-analysis of the effect of chained CPI adjustments in calculating the adjustment for 2018. The 2018 formula under TCJA uses CPI adjustments for 1997 and 2016 together with Chained CPI adjustments for 2016 and 2017. The amount of tax deferred at 2% is $608,000, which is the same as existed before TCJA was enacted.

Sep-11-2018 - We added a link to IRS Form 5495, Request for Discharge From Personal Liability Under Internal Revenue Code Section 2204 or 6905, under Forms and Instructions, above.

Sep-05-2018 - We further updated Selected Public Laws Affecting Estate Tax with links to PDF versions of PL 95-600 (Revenue Act of 1978), PL 97-34 (Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981), and PL 97-448 (Technical Corrections Act of 1982).

Aug-24-2018 - Our page Selected Public Laws Affecting Estate Tax has been updated with links to PDF versions of PL 105-34 (Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997), PL 99-514 (Tax Reform Act of 1986), PL 98-369 (Deficit Reduction Act of 1984), PL 97-248 (Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982), and PL 94-455 (Tax Reform Act of 1976).

Jul-27-2018 - We corrected the hypothetical amount of tax deferred at 2% for 2018 in our table, Calculating the 2% Portion of Deferred Tax, to $444,000. The official IRS figure should be released in August.

Jun-19-2018 - We added a link to IRS Form 712, Life Insurance Statement, under Forms and Instructions, above.

Mar-20-2018 - The link to IRS Document 6209 is repaired. The link takes you to the IRS page that lists the Documents 6209 available for the past 7 years.

Mar-10-2018 - We modified the 2018 row of figures in Calculating the 2% Portion of Deferred Tax to reflect Rev. Proc. 2018-18, which finalized the inflation-adjusted basic exclusion amount at $11,180,000 for determining the amount of the unified credit under section 2010. We also modified our assumptions concerning the indexed chained CPI inflation factor for 2018 to reflect the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Pending final IRS figures, our estimated 2% portion of tax deferred under a section 6166 election is $447,200. Under prior law it would have been $608,000.

Feb-24-2018 - Section 6166(f) Example 1 has been added under the Home Page title bar Section 6166(f) - Time for Payment of Interest.

Feb-15-2018 - Links to Form 4506 and Form 4506-T have been added to Forms and Instructions in the left column on the Home Page.

Feb-09-2018 - Our Section 6166(k)(1) Overview, under the Home Page title bar Section 6166(k)(1) - Security - Section 6165 has been updated with links to the applicable regulations.

Feb-08-2018 - A link to the page Section 6166(b)(10) Overview has been added under the Home Page title bar Section 6166(b)(10) - Stock in Qualifying Lending and Finance Business.

Feb-06-2018 - Commentary discussing passive assets has been added to the pages Section 6166(b)(9) Overview and Overview of Section 6166(g)(1).

Feb-01-2018 - Direct links to additional Code sections have been added in the drop-down menu Code Sections, under the top line title Code and Regs. At the top of each target page are navigation arrows to access the <<previous>> or <<next>> Code section.

Jan-16-2018 - Under the block captioned IRS Information, we added a link to the IRS website page, Resources for Tax Law Changes, which will be updated as the IRS announces its responses to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act legislation, inter alia.

Jan-02-2018 - We updated our table, Calculating the 2% Portion of Deferred Tax, to reflect President Trump's signing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (short title) into law on December 22, 2017, as Public Law 115-97.

Dec-21-2017 - We will update the 2018 figures in our table, Calculating the 2% Portion of Deferred Tax, after President Trump signs the tax legislation passed by Congress on December 20, 2017. Current reports indicate the bill will be signed on or after January 1, 2018.

Dec-06-2017 - IRS interest rates remain the same for the 1st quarter of 2018, as announced in Rev. Rul. 2017-25.

Nov-06-2017 -  The portion of tax deferred at 2% for estates of decedents dying in 2018 remains $608,000 under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, H.R. 1, that was introduced Nov-02-2017. We have added a line to this effect in our table Calculating the 2% Portion of Deferred Tax.

Oct-23-2017 - We have updated our table, Calculating the 2% Portion of Deferred Tax, to reflect the adjustments made in Rev. Proc. 2017-58. The portion of tax deferred at 2% for dates of death in 2018 is $608,000.

Oct-02-2017 - IRS is requesting comments on Form 843, Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement. Written comments must be received by Nov-28-2017. 

Sep-11-2017 - IRS interest rates remain the same for the 4th quarter of 2017, as announced in Rev. Rul. 2017-18.

Apr-06-2017 - The links to Revenue Procedure 95-17, Revenue Procedure 83-7, and the 45% interest factor tables have been repaired on the page Rev. Proc. 95-17 and Rev. Proc. 83-7. This page link is located under the left-column title bar IRS Rulings/Revenue Procedures. We also repaired the links to the Adell 1999 Form 709, Adell 2006 Form 709, and Adell Form 706 pages 1-3 hypotheticals  under the Recent Cases - Computation Examples title bar.

Mar-31-2017 - Under the left column title bar IRS Information we added a link to the IRS Tax Statistics Home page.

Jan-27-2017 - We edited and re-formatted the pages that explain each of the three sets of computations under the center column title bars Section 6166(a), Section 6166(b)(7), Section 6166(b)(8), and Section 6166(b)(10). We also repaired a number of broken links on those pages. The computations illustrate scenarios where there has been an underpayment of non-deferred tax when a section 6166 election is filed; where there has been an overpayment of non-deferred tax with an election to defer the maximum amount of tax eligibe for deferral; and where there has been an overpayment of non-deferred tax with an election to defer only the unpaid balance of tax. In all of those scenarios there is an IRS examination deficiency assessed between the 2nd and 3rd anniversary dates.

Jan-25-2017 - Formatting has been modified and broken links have been repaired for the three sets of computation examples under the Section 6166(b)(10) title bar.

Jan-24-2017 - We modified some of the figures for Transferor A's estate tax calculation in the Section 2013 Example 1 Credit for Tax on Prior Transfers computation (section 6166 is not involved). The net value of the transfer is unchanged, however, and the tax calculation changes have no effect on the TPT credit allowable in the transferee's estate because the transfer from A's estate generates a second limitation credit.

Jan-17-2017 - The link under IRS Rulings to the IRS Searchable list of CCAs, TAMs, and PLRs has been modified to bring you directly to the current list. (The prior link took you to the list existing at the time the link was created, although more current items could be accessed through its search function.)

Jan-06-2017 - A new page has been added under Section 6166 - General Concepts. See Section 2013 Credit for Tax on Prior Transfers With Active Section 6166 Elections. This page will be supplemented with additional content in the near future.

Dec-30-2016 - We revised and updated the text for Minnesota Section 6166 Notes and repaired some broken links in New York Section 6166 Information.

Aug-16-2016 - Printer-friendly, email, and PDF icons will appear on each page after you register.

Jan-18-2016 - This site has been updated to a new Content Management System (CMS). Certain display elements may be modified from time to time as more content is added.

May-20-2015 - Links to specific regulation sections in eCFR appear to break after a day (the eCFR is updated daily). We are replacing specific eCFR section links with links to the xml versions in the 2015 annual CFR, which links are stable. It may take a little time to modify all the links throughout this site. However, one can browse the applicable tables of contents to find a specific Regulation 20.xxxx section in the current eCFR here, or the Regulation 20.xxxx sections in the 2015 CFR xml version here, or the Regulation 301.xxxx sections in the current eCFR here. 

Apr-29-2015   The page The 4 Types of Section 6166 Deferrals has been revised and updated.

Apr-19-2014 - The New York estate tax dramatically changed for estates of decedents dying on or after April 1, 2014. The first estate tax returns under the new law will be due January 1, 2015. Section 999-a is an Appendix to Article 26 of the New York Tax Law that brings the estate tax provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC sections 2031 et seq.) into New York law, specifically including IRC section 6166. Other related provisions of the IRC are included. We will be analyzing the impact of these changes on interrelated Federal and New York section 6166 computations and will be posting additional updates.

Mar-28-2014 - The Code and Regs top line menu choices are now live links to specific URLs on the House of Representatives website. The Code sections are presented in xhtml format and the Regulation sections from the CFR are xml files. They load quickly and are printable. The Code sections are current, and a navigation link at the top of the xhtml page permits one to move forward or backward through the Code. The Regulation sections are from the most recent volume of the CFR (2013). We will be adding live links to the Code and Regulations on the House website in the materials elsewhere on this site where appropriate.

Mar-25-2014 -  In the text on this site one will occasionally find links to external web sites. We are trying to restrict such external links to U.S. government websites such as irs.gov or gpo.gov and the like, and websites maintained by state governments. Our previous attempts to link to other sites, even Federal court websites, for cases or PLRs proved to be unsatisfactory because the links were frequently broken despite our having received approval for such linking. The U.S. government links have proved to be stable. Anyone who follows any external link on this site must make themselves aware of that other site's privacy policies and visits that other site at their own risk; we have absolutely no control over or influence on any other such website and expressly disclaim any liability for actions taken or not taken on any other web site.