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TIME TO REPEAL THE ESTATE TAX

AN URGENT NATIONAL PRIORITY

IT SHOULD BE A BIPARTISAN ISSUE

In the last 20 years the estate tax has been repealed in one nation after another.  Social Democratic states like Sweden and Norway now have no estate tax. Unfortunately, in America many on the left do not seem to understand the need to correct America's disastrously low savings rate and see the estate tax as some sort of economic justice.  In reality America has one of the world's highest estate tax rates and one of the world's highest levels of economic inequality.  Meanwhile, nations with far lower estate tax rates or none at all are more equal.

The US Republican Party claims to want to repeal the estate tax but unfortunately, neither the House nor the Senate "tax reform" bills in 2017 contain an immediate repeal of this destructive and misguided tax.  The House bill at least has a phased repeal.  The Senate bill has merely a doubling of the exemption.

A lot of false arguments are being thrown around.  Some suggest the estate tax only affects a relatively small number of people.  What this ignores is this tax has created a total perversion of normal economic actions via all sorts of tax gimmick, trusts and life insurance tactics.

There are other ways to tax the rich such as higher marginal rates on upper incomes.  Also every other modern state has consumption tax and almost every other modern state has a serious tax on energy such as a tax on gasoline.

Unfortunately, the main focus of the 2017 Republican tax "reform" bills is a $1.5 trillion tax cut to big corporations on the argument that they are somehow overtaxed.   This is a very dubious argument since the actual rate of tax they pay is not out of the ordinary and at present they are using a huge part of their earnings for stock buybacks instead of creating jobs.

America's very high estate tax levels are a record keeping nightmare and a huge drag on the economy.   Study after study have shown that the tax is a huge economic net minus.

The House plan is start but what is really needed a complete repeal of the estate tax as has already been done in so many other nations.