Word: repeals
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Stories like these and other inequities are at the root of the newfound momentum in Washington to junk the estate tax, which currently reaches rates as high as 55%. The House passed a repeal bill in June, and with few changes, the Senate signed off on it last month. President Clinton has vowed to veto the bill, which he calls a tax break for the superrich, and there does not appear to be enough support for an override. Still, the issue promises to have legs...
Both George W. Bush and Al Gore have staked out the "death tax" as a campaign issue. Bush wants to repeal it outright. Gore has reacted by proposing to double the exemption, to $5 million per family for a business left in an estate. Both positions reflect a sudden urge on the part of government to help family-owned businesses. Maybe it's because the unleashing of the Internet has put a spotlight on entrepreneurial pursuit and its value in an economy in which small businesses continue to provide the most jobs. Maybe it's because in flush times...
...resistance to repeal has deep populist roots that are hard to dig out. And there is no point denying it: repealing the estate tax would benefit the superrich. Short of communism, any plan to get rid of a tax that many see as immoral is bound to help billionaires. So what? The barrels of ink spilled on this point miss the mark...
...survey after survey, owners cite the estate tax as a top concern. They are worried that heirs will have to sell the business to pay the tax. Critics of repeal rightly point out that only 2% of all estates are subject to the tax, thanks to exemptions already in place, and that only 3% of the estates taxed are family farms or businesses...
Critics argue that repeal will cost the Treasury $105 billion over 10 years--a revenue shortfall that the middle class will have to make up. But that is a) far from proved and b) a pittance next to the $2.2 trillion projected budget surplus over the next 10 years (not counting the Social Security surplus), which strongly suggests there would be no shortfall...