Wisconsin’s Inheritance Tax

Jack Stark provides A History of the Wisconsin Inheritance Tax, 88 Marq. L. Rev. 947 (2005).

Here is Mr. Stark’s conclusion:

The inheritance tax, having been repealed, is of only historical interest. However, its historical interest is significant. In tracing the history of the tax, one sees its interaction with such important topics as the degree to which the wealthy should be relieved of taxes and the proper status of women’s property rights. In fact, the inheritance tax is a reasonably good indicator of the political currents that existed at various times in Wisconsin’s history. Thus, as the history of the Wisconsin inheritance tax indicates, tax law often is sensitive to political and cultural changes and is therefore a good guide to those changes.