Revenue from the U.S. estate tax has been cut in half in two years, new data from the Internal Revenue Service shows, even as dynastic wealth soars. 

Just 1,275 wealthy families paid $9.3 billion in estate tax to the U.S. Treasury in 2020. As recently as 2018, the IRS collected more than $20 billion from nearly 5,500 families. 

The dramatic decline — to the point where the tax is paid by 0.04% of dying Americans — is largely the result of the tax overhaul enacted by Republicans in 2017, which doubled the amount the wealthy can pass to heirs without triggering the levy. 

Married couples can now transfer $23.4 million over their lifetimes tax-free, but families with vastly greater sums can hire sophisticated advisers to get around the tax. Nike Inc. founder Phil Knight used a variety of techniques to transfer billions of dollars to his family tax-free, according to a Bloomberg investigation last month.

The estate tax is “easy […]