Topics in the News: Death Tax
Joe Biden on Tax Reform
: Feb 3, 2021
Tax earnings over $400K, capital gains & estate tax
[Trump said on ABC] "if Joe Biden ever got in, I think you'd have a Depression the likes of which we have never seen in this country. If you look at his policies, where he wants to raise everybody's taxes." FactCheck by Rocky Mengle in Kiplinger
newsletter, Feb. 3, 2021: He wants to raise the highest personal income rate back up to 39.6% (it was lowered to 37% by the 2017 tax reform law), cap itemized deductions for wealthier Americans, limit "like-kind exchanges" by real estate investors, and
phase-out the 20% deduction for qualified business income for upper-income taxpayers. He won't raise taxes for anyone making less than $400,000, though. As a candidate, Biden's tax policy proposals also included eliminating the step-up in basis for
inherited capital assets, which means more taxes on wealth passed to heirs, and ending favorable tax rates on capital gains for anyone making over $1 million. Also look for the federal estate tax exemption to be increased back to pre-tax reform levels.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: ABC This Week: FactCheck on 2020 Town Hall interview
Mike Pence on Corporations
: Sep 22, 2020
Reduce state corporate tax rate from 8.5% to 3%
[On individual & corporate taxes]: "Republican Mike Pence is looking at ways to cut Indiana income tax rates across the board if he is elected governor next year. The congressman told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he wants the state's
individual and corporate tax rates reduced to 3 percent. The state's individual tax rate is now 3.4 percent and the corporate rate is 8.5 percent. He also said he would like to repeal Indiana's estate tax." [Associated Press State & Local Wire, 8/3/11]
"Congress should adopt the Armey-Shelby Flat Tax Proposal (H.R. 1040/S.1040) sponsored by House Majority Leader Richard Armey (R-TX) and Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL).
Under the Armey-Shelby proposal, two simple postcard size forms would replace the current tax code's 703 forms." [Mike Pence For Congress via Wayback Machine, 2000]
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Source: Trump Research Book on Mike Pence
Donald Trump on Corporations
: Feb 29, 2020
No more estate tax on small farms, small business
And, by the way, speaking of farmers, something they don't know but they're learning fast: No more estate tax on your small farm, small businesses, small other things. No more estate tax. People don't talk about it. It's a big thing--big provision.
Big provision. If you love your children, it's great. If you don't love your children, it's irrelevant. Don't leave the money to them. No more estate tax or, as we call it, "death tax."
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Remarks by President Trump at the 2020 CPAC Conference
Kamala Harris on Tax Reform
: Nov 19, 2019
Higher tax on wealthy to fund Medicare-for-All & teacher pay
The Harris version of Medicare for All would rest on much the same tax-the-rich moves the Sanders plan suggests. But she would limit her plan's premium fee to households making over $100,000 a year.
To fund a $315 billion plan to raise teacher salaries, she calls for strengthening the estate tax and cracking down on loopholes that let our wealthy avoid taxes on "estates worth multiple millions or billions."
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Source: The Nation magazine on 2019 Democratic primary
Howie Hawkins on Tax Reform
: May 19, 2019
Graduated wealth tax & graduated estate tax
A VOTE FOR THE GREEN TICKET IS A VOTE FOR:PEACE- Transition from Forward-Based Imperialism to Home-Based Defense
- A Global Green New Deal--Invest the Peace Dividend from Military Spending Cuts in Clean Energy and Basic Human Needs
PROGRESSIVE TAXATION- lncome and Wealth Taxes
- More Progressive Personal Income Taxes
- Higher Corporate Income Taxes
- A Graduated Wealth Tax
- A Graduated Estate Tax
- Eco-Taxes
- A Progressive Carbon Tax with Rebates to Low-to-Moderate
Income People
- A Land Value Tax on Unearned Appreciation of Land Site Values Due to Social Investments
DEMOCRACY- Instant-Runoff Voting for President
- Abolish the Electoral College
- Proportional Representation in Congress
- Abolish the
US Senate
- End Voter Suppression
- Promote Community Assemblies with a Federal Grant Program
- Full Public Campaign Financing
- Adopt the We the People Amendment--End the Corporate Personhood and the Money Is Speech Doctrines
Click for Howie Hawkins on other issues.
Source: 2020 Presidential Campaign website HowieHawkins.us
Bernie Sanders on Tax Reform
: Apr 12, 2019
Top rate of 77% for estates over $1 billion
Sanders has long said he supports raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans. He recently proposed hiking estate taxes for millionaires and billionaires, including a top rate of
77% for estates over $1 billion.
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Source: Axios.com "What you need to know about 2020"
Bernie Sanders on Tax Reform
: Feb 1, 2019
Raise income tax & fix estate tax: hardly Marxist ideas
Sanders' views correspond to only a small portion of the socialist program advocated by Karl Marx in his Communist Manifesto and are a far cry from Marx's vision of a stateless communist society he posits would follow.
Sanders would raise income taxes and lower the exemption on estate taxes from $5.4M to $3.5M, but he calls for something far less radical than the "abolition of all rights of inheritance".
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: The Economist "Socialist?" on 2020 Democratic primary
Bernie Sanders on Corporations
: Aug 29, 2017
45% estate tax only for estates over $3.5 million
Strengthening the estate tax is one of the fairest ways to reduce wealth inequality, while at the same time raising significant new revenues that the country needs to rebuild the middle class. I propose restoring the minimum size of an estate subject
to the tax from $5 million to $3.5 million, where it was in 2009. This would only impact the estates of the wealthiest 0.3 percent of Americans who inherit more than $3.5 million. And we should make it graduated to target the biggest estates:
- 45% for an estate valued between $3.5 million and $10 million
- 50% for an estate valued between $10 million and $50 million
- 55% for an estate valued in excess of $50 million
There are all sorts of loopholes that help the wealthiest families avoid paying estate and gift taxes. We must close each and every one of them.
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: Guide to Political Revolution, by Bernie Sanders, p. 42-3
Bernie Sanders on Corporations
: Feb 7, 2017
Only the top 2/10 of 1% pay the estate tax
SANDERS: Quoting the "Wall Street Journal", October 29th, 2015: "Ted Cruz's new tax plan delivers its biggest benefits to the top 1 percent of U.S. households, adding about one-third to their after-tax income." Here is the economic reality facing
America. In the last 35 years, there has been a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class and the working class to the top one-tenth of 1 percent. We are talking about trillions of dollars.
Ted's response to that is he's going to support the repeal of the estate tax, correct? You're on record in doing that.CRUZ: Among many things.
SANDERS: Among many other breaks to billionaires.
CRUZ: I don't want to bankrupt small business owners.
SANDERS: The only people who pay the estate tax are the top two- tenths of 1 percent. It would cost us over $200 billion. And as Ted said, it goes on and on and on.
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: CNN 2017 Town Hall debates: Ted Cruz vs. Bernie Sanders
Chris Christie on Tax Reform
: Jan 12, 2016
Abolish the estate tax to incentivize people to stay in NJ
Right now, New Jersey imposes an estate and inheritance tax. 14 states currently have estate taxes, and 6 have inheritance taxes. But only New Jersey and Maryland have both and we also have the lowest exemption threshold in the country.
I aim to abolish the Estate Tax because it penalizes the next generation and harms the long-term economic future. Our tax structure incentivizes people to move to other states as they age--and when they do, to take their businesses and capital with them.
Click for Chris Christie on other issues.
Source: 2016 State of the State speech to New Jersey legislature
Bernie Sanders on Tax Reform
: Oct 18, 2015
Tax increases may affect more than top 1%
Q: How do you pay for your proposed programs like tuition-free public college?SANDERS: We have to tax Wall Street speculation. When you see the rich's effective tax rates is lower than the effective tax rates of truck drivers, then the wealthy have
got to pay more. We'll end the loophole that allows large corporations to stash their money in the Cayman Islands and avoid paying federal income taxes. We'll raise the estate tax so that billionaires end up paying more in taxes.
Q:
Previously, you said that 90% marginal rate is not too high. So how high are you willing to go on that top marginal rate?
SANDERS: We'll come up with that rate but it will be a lot higher than it is right now.
Q: But to pay for all of your programs,
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: ABC This Week 2015 interview by Martha Raddatz
Donald Trump on Tax Reform
: Oct 18, 2015
Repeal estate tax; it's double taxation
Q: You would eliminate carried interest, preferential tax treatment for hedge funders. What's the thinking?TRUMP: Well, the thinking is we have the highest tax rate in the world. We have $2.5 trillion overseas that isn't coming back into this country.
So what I'm doing is large tax cuts, especially for the middle class. We're going to have a dynamic economy.
Q: But there are two concerns. The Conservative Tax Foundation, says that over 10 years, you would add $10 trillion to the deficit.
And there's also the question of who would benefit under your tax plan. The Foundation says the middle class would see after tax income increase 7.2%. The top 1% would see a spike of 21.6%.
So between that and ending the estate tax, the Trump family and folks like you would make out great.
TRUMP: The estate tax has been a disaster; it's double taxation.
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Source: Fox News Sunday 2015 Coverage of 2016 presidential hopefuls
Donald Trump on Tax Reform
: Oct 4, 2015
Estate tax is unfair double taxation
Q: Under your tax plan, your family would make potentially hundreds of millions of dollars by eliminating the estate tax.TRUMP: The estate tax is a horrible weapon that has destroyed many families.
In particular, farms and things where they make an income and they have a certain value and they have to go out and borrow money and they put mortgages on their farm.
Let's say it's a business that's not very liquid, and people have to go out and borrow against the business, you are having travesty.
And the other thing is, it's a double taxation. The tax has already been paid. I mean you've been hearing this argument for many years.
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Source: ABC This Week 2015 interview by Martha Raddatz
Bernie Sanders on Corporations
: Sep 5, 2015
Fix estate tax so mega-rich pay their fair share
Currently the super-rich and the largest corporations in America don't pay their fair share of taxes, which means there's not enough funding for programs that will alleviate systemic inequalities. The tax code needs to be reformed to enable us to break
out of this vicious cycle and enable more people to have economic opportunities and build a more equitable economy. Bernie says, "If you have seen a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class to the top 1/10 of 1%, you know what, we've got to
transfer that back if we're going to have a vibrant middle class. And you do that in a lot of ways. Certainly one way is tax policy."How would that tax policy work? Bernie has many ideas, but here are some major planks of his plan for more equitable
taxation:- Progressive income taxes on the richest Americans.
- Fixing the estate tax so mega-rich families pay their fair share.
- Taxing corporations more fairly, including addressing tax havens.
- Taxing Wall Street speculation.
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: 2016 grassroots campaign website FeelTheBern.org, "Issues"
Bernie Sanders on Tax Reform
: Sep 5, 2015
Lower cutoff for estate tax from $5.4M to $3.5M
Q: What does Bernie think is wrong with the estate tax?A: While for many years this tax unfairly affected middle-class farms, it has been significantly changed to only affect large estates, worth over several millions of dollars. The rate has been
lowered and the cap raised to such an extent that it has amounted to a huge tax break for the super-rich.
Q: So what is Bernie's answer to reforming the estate tax?
A: Bernie has proposed lowering the bar on estate taxes so that individuals who own
estates worth more than $3.5 million and couples who own estates worth more than $7 million will be taxed (at the moment the bar is set at $5.4 million and $11 million). This bill also increases the amount of tax on these estates, and closes loopholes
used to avoid paying these taxes.
Q: Shouldn't people be able to pass on money to their children?
A: They should--but even with Bernie's proposed new estate tax, 99.75% of Americans would not pay any more in estate taxes than they do today.
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Source: 2016 grassroots campaign website FeelTheBern.org, "Issues"
Jill Stein on Tax Reform
: Jul 6, 2015
Increase inheritance taxes; use it as "Aristocracy Tax"
OnTheIssues: What do you think of the estate tax, or the "death tax" as the Republican call it?Stein: I'd call it the "Aristocracy Tax." We instituted an estate tax so we would not have massive inherited wealth so we would not have an aristocracy like
we left behind in Europe. Now wealth disparities are greater than ever in history--we have more than an aristocracy going on.
An aristocracy tax is only part of it--a couple can pass on $11 million in wealth before it's taxed--that's pretty outrageous--and it got codified under Obama--he made permanent the Bush tax cut on that aspect. We need to massively reduce the inheritance
gift--the aristocracy gift--and broader tax reform so we don't have such massive accumulation of wealth in the first place. We need to restore the inheritance tax and it should be progressive at higher levels of inheritance.
Click for Jill Stein on other issues.
Source: Phone interview on presidential race with OnTheIssues.org
Bernie Sanders on Tax Reform
: Jun 25, 2015
Increase estate tax rates on inheritances over $3.5M
Sanders introduced legislation to increase estate tax rates on the top 3/10 of 1% of Americans. "The fairest way to reduce wealth inequality is to enact a progressive estate tax on multi-millionaires," Sanders said. Only the very wealthiest millionaires
would be effected by the Sanders plan; 99.75% of Americans would not pay a penny more in estate taxes. Sanders' bill does the following:- Lowers the estate tax exemption level from $5.4 million to $3.5 million for individuals and from about
$11 million to $7 million for couples.
- Increases the marginal tax rate to 45% on estates between $3.5 million to $10 million, 50% on estates between $10 million and $50 million, and 55% on estates over $50 million.
- Creates a new billionaire
surtax of 10% that would only impact 530 billionaires who are worth a combined $2.6 trillion.
- Ends loopholes allowing billionaire families to set up dynasty trusts to avoid taxes.
- Protects family farms and conservation easements.
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: The Essential Bernie Sanders, by Jonathan Tasini, p. 41-3
Tim Walz on Tax Reform
: Nov 7, 2006
Don't repeal the estate tax; do repeal Bush tax cuts
Q: Do you support the permanent repeal of the federal estate tax? A: No.
Q: Do you support making President Bush's tax cuts permanent?
A: No. I propose returning to the PAYGO system of budgeting.
I will also vote to repeal recent tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and to close tax loopholes that currently allow American companies to avoid their tax obligations.
Click for Tim Walz on other issues.
Source: 2006 Congressional National Political Awareness Test
Donald Trump on Tax Reform
: Jul 2, 2000
Repeal the inheritance tax to offset one-time wealth tax
I would impose a one-time, 14.25% tax on individuals and trusts with a net worth over $10 million. For individuals, net worth would be calculated minus the value of their principal residence. That would raise $5.7 trillion in new revenue, which
we would use to pay off the entire national debt [and shore up the Social Security Trust Fund]. My proposal would also allow us to entirely repeal the 55% federal inheritance tax. The inheritance tax is a particularly lousy tax because it can often
be a double tax. If you put the money into trust for your children, you pay the inheritance tax upon your death. When the trust matures and your children go to use it, they’re taxed again. It’s the worst.
Some will say that my plan is unfair to the
extremely wealthy. I say it is only reasonable to shift the burden to those most able to pay. The wealthy actually would not suffer severe repercussions. The 14.25% net-worth tax would be offset by repeal of the 55% inheritance-tax liability.
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Source: The America We Deserve, by Donald Trump, p.170-74
Donald Trump on Budget & Economy
: Nov 10, 1999
Predicts 35% boost to economy from eliminating national debt
Financial analysts said that Trump’s proposed tax on assets over $10 million could be a financial disaster, pricking the stock market bubble or risking capital flight out of the country. Trump dismissed the
doom-and-gloom scenarios. “It would not be a shock to the system,” he said, predicting a 35% boost in economic activity after he eliminates the debt, cuts income taxes and erases the inheritance tax.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Boston Globe on 2000 race, p. A19
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