The Death Tax Repeal Act would eliminate the estate tax from the federal tax code. The estate tax is a tax on inherited assets that is imposed upon a person’s death. It is the most progressive federal tax and currently applies only to estates worth more than $3.5 million dollars. However, the exemption has increased in recent years from an already significant $675,000 in 2001 to its much higher current level, exempting more and more wealthy households from liability. The tax falls only on the small number of individuals lucky enough to inherit a windfall: less than one percent of Americans pay the tax and nearly half of estate tax liability is paid by the richest 0.1% of households.