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psyffer discovered this in Taxation
•1 reviews since Jun 8, 2006
taxation
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psyffer discovered 3 months ago- By STEPHEN S. WAMHOFF (First Reviewed 9 Jun 2006, 1:23am GMT) The estate tax was enacted 90 years ago to curb the most extreme inequalities of wealth and to help fund public programs that all Americans, including the wealthy, enjoy. The tax applies to only the largest estates. Only those bigger than $2 million, or $4 million for married couples, pay any tax at all. In addition, family farms and businesses get special treatment. As a result, of the 2.5 million people expected to die this year, only one in 300 will leave a taxable estate. Nonetheless, 18 of America's richest families have funded a slick campaign to repeal the tax...None of the arguments stand up to scrutiny. For example, estate-tax repealers insist that it's only fair to give all this money to the wealthy because they've already paid income taxes on it during their lifetimes. But very few estates face the tax, and even those that do consist mostly of capital gains that have never been taxed before. Repealers also contend that the tax causes the breakup of lots of small businesses and family farms. That's false, too. In fact, those who make this claim are hard-pressed to come up with a single example of a farm or business that has been forced to be sold to pay estate taxes. Besides the enormous cost of repeal, we should also worry about the link between growing income and wealth inequality and our democracy's ability to serve the people. Right now, 57 percent of the wealth is owned by the richest 5 percent of citizens and only 2.5 percent is owned by the poorer 50 percent. The estate tax is one of the few tools we have to prevent even greater concentration of wealth and power - and those calling for repeal understand this.
