Big news today in San Diego Union Tribune in article by By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER
House passes bill to repeal estate tax | UTSanDiego.com. I can't believe that the Republican congress would waste its time passing something that is so ridiculous that they know would not get through the Senate (even with Republican majority) and certainly would not get signed by the President. It is purely symbolic. Its obvious that they are pandering to the very rich in the hopes of encouraging increases in campaign donations. That's because it gives a quarter trillion dollars to those very rich. Congressman Kevin Brady's (R-Texas) legislation clearly benefits only the VERY rich people (estates over $10.9 Million for married couples)--and only those rich people who have not planned their estate well to pass on their wealth to children via trusts or donate it through the various charity options. The bill also had no way to "pay" for the huge cost to the treasury($269 Billion over 10 years) by eliminating the tax. That is a complaint that Republicans scream loudly every time Democrats propose some sort of increase in spending.
The main objection I have to repealing the estate tax is that it would eliminate the "step up" when a person dies, and require estates to pay capital gains tax. That becomes a huge paperwork nightmare for the personal representative of the estate! The tax basis of properties that were purchased, and improved by the deceased and often very difficult to figure out or find historical information about improvements, land divisions, etc. The bill claims that if passed it was employ over a 100,000 people. I'm not sure who would be employed if this bill passes -- but it sounds like it would require an army of accountants and lawyers to figure it all out. We don't need that additional complexity as "financial relief" for lawyers and accountants!
It seems to me that the truly fair way to handle the estate tax would be to index the "deduction" so it adjusts annually with the CPI. The actual tax could be "graduated" so that people with $10-$20 Million estates are taxed maybe at less than today's 40%. However as estates grow larger, the taxes could be reasonably increased to 50% or 60% for the hundred million dollar type of estates. As the article points out, very few people with $100+ million estate will end up paying those higher taxes because of careful estate and tax planning. However, such a bill would help a lot of people, and could end up being somewhat "revenue neutral."
House passes bill to repeal estate tax | UTSanDiego.com. I can't believe that the Republican congress would waste its time passing something that is so ridiculous that they know would not get through the Senate (even with Republican majority) and certainly would not get signed by the President. It is purely symbolic. Its obvious that they are pandering to the very rich in the hopes of encouraging increases in campaign donations. That's because it gives a quarter trillion dollars to those very rich. Congressman Kevin Brady's (R-Texas) legislation clearly benefits only the VERY rich people (estates over $10.9 Million for married couples)--and only those rich people who have not planned their estate well to pass on their wealth to children via trusts or donate it through the various charity options. The bill also had no way to "pay" for the huge cost to the treasury($269 Billion over 10 years) by eliminating the tax. That is a complaint that Republicans scream loudly every time Democrats propose some sort of increase in spending.
The main objection I have to repealing the estate tax is that it would eliminate the "step up" when a person dies, and require estates to pay capital gains tax. That becomes a huge paperwork nightmare for the personal representative of the estate! The tax basis of properties that were purchased, and improved by the deceased and often very difficult to figure out or find historical information about improvements, land divisions, etc. The bill claims that if passed it was employ over a 100,000 people. I'm not sure who would be employed if this bill passes -- but it sounds like it would require an army of accountants and lawyers to figure it all out. We don't need that additional complexity as "financial relief" for lawyers and accountants!
It seems to me that the truly fair way to handle the estate tax would be to index the "deduction" so it adjusts annually with the CPI. The actual tax could be "graduated" so that people with $10-$20 Million estates are taxed maybe at less than today's 40%. However as estates grow larger, the taxes could be reasonably increased to 50% or 60% for the hundred million dollar type of estates. As the article points out, very few people with $100+ million estate will end up paying those higher taxes because of careful estate and tax planning. However, such a bill would help a lot of people, and could end up being somewhat "revenue neutral."
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