Under the IRC, a taxpayer who inherits property gets an automatic, income-tax-free, step-up in basis for that asset. That is, the heir uses the propertys value on the deceaseds date of death (or 6 months later in some cases) as their basis for depreciation and for gains/losses. This tax giveaway almost seems too good to be true for estate planning purposes.

So, why would Congress give taxpayers such a generous break?

What was their motivation?