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Fact check: Trump got rid of the inheritance tax, Biden brought it back. These people are f in crazy to think that we can't remember who did what and when.
Executive Summary
The claim that "Trump got rid of the inheritance tax, Biden brought it back" is over‑simplified and partially inaccurate based on the provided material: President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July 2025 that raised the federal estate and gift tax exemption to $15 million per person (indexed for inflation) rather than outright repealing the estate tax, and later reporting shows the exemption level and potential reversion in 2026 depend on statutory sunsets and congressional action, with no direct evidence in these sources that President Biden unilaterally "brought it back" [1] [2] [3].
1. What actually changed under Trump — bigger exemption, not a full repeal
The most concrete action attributable to President Trump in these analyses is enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on July 4, 2025, which permanently increased the federal estate and gift tax exemption to $15 million per person and indexed it for inflation, thereby raising the threshold at which estates are taxed rather than eliminating the estate tax entirely [1]. Multiple summaries of the legislation frame it as an increase in exemption amounts and additional tax‑advantaged provisions, which changes who owes estate tax but does not constitute a repeal of the estate tax or the generation‑skipping transfer tax [2].
2. The 2026 “sunset” context that complicates simple attributions
Analyses note a statutory sunset or reversion risk: projections show exemptions set to decrease or revert if Congress does not act, with figures cited such as a reversion to roughly $6–7 million per individual and $14 million for couples absent legislative fixes [3] [4]. This means that timing, congressional follow‑up, and indexing mechanics are pivotal; policy effects across administrations can reflect statutory design rather than a single president's unilateral reversal. The provided sources emphasize planning and legislative contingency more than a clean partisan switch.
3. Did Biden "bring it back"? The sources do not support that wording
None of the summaries presented assert that President Biden repealed the Trump changes or "brought back" a previous inheritance tax level by executive order or unilateral action; rather, the documents frame the future exemption level as dependent on law, congressional action, or sunset provisions [3] [4]. The language in the original statement implies a direct presidential reversal; the materials instead portray a legislative and statutory process where changes may take effect at set dates unless Congress intervenes, which complicates causal attribution to a single actor.
4. Alternative framings and political messaging — why the shorthand persists
Observers and political actors often compress complicated tax law changes into partisan narratives—e.g., "got rid of" versus "brought back"—because it is rhetorically powerful, though legally imprecise. The analyses provided show how increases in exemption amounts and possible sunsets create openings for competing political messages, with some outlets emphasizing certainty from new law and others highlighting looming reversion that could be framed as an administration reversal if subsequent action occurs [1] [3].
5. Practical effect for taxpayers — who actually feels the difference?
The materials stress that the practical impact of changes is on estates near the exemption threshold and on estate‑planning timing; higher exemptions allow more assets to pass untaxed and incentivize gifting strategies while the exemption is high, whereas a reversion would push more estates into taxable ranges and alter planning approaches [3] [2]. That practical frame explains why commentators focus on dollars of exemption and sunset dates rather than headlines about "repeal" or "restoration."
6. What the sources omit and why that matters to the original claim
The provided analyses do not include explicit statements about presidential motives, executive actions by Biden reversing Trump, or detailed congressional votes post‑2025; they concentrate on statutory numbers, sunsets, and planning implications [1] [4] [5]. The absence of direct evidence that Biden "brought it back" means the original claim relies on political framing, not documentary proof from these sources, and therefore overstates what the cited material demonstrates.
7. Bottom line for evaluating the original statement
Based on these documents, the correct summary is that Trump signed legislation raising the estate/gift tax exemption to $15 million per person in 2025, which changes who pays estate tax but does not abolish the tax; future exemption levels hinge on statutory sunsets and congressional action, and the sources do not support the assertion that Biden directly reversed Trump by "bringing back" an inheritance tax via unilateral action [1] [3] [4]. Readers should treat the original claim as partly true about policy direction but misleading about legal mechanics and attribution.