The Death Tax Is ‘Just Plain Wrong’

Sen. Ron Wyden, Finance Committee Ranking Member: ‘If You Oppose Losing Farmland To Strip Malls… You Should Stand With Me And Work To Repeal The Estate Tax’
SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): “As if the long arm of the IRS isn’t intrusive enough during life, too often the death tax punishes hard-working Americans even after they’ve passed away… In an environment where it’s frequently too difficult and costly for family-owned farms to be passed from one generation to the next, we should be knocking down hurdles to find ways to incentivize families to retain these multi-generation businesses. Repealing the death tax would be a big step in the right direction. I’m committed to working as hard and as long as it takes to get rid of this onerous tax, and I’m glad so many of my colleagues are willing to take up this fight as well.” (Sen. Thune, Press Release, 1/24/2017)

• GALLUP: “[President] Trump's plan to eliminate the estate tax paid when someone dies garnered considerably more agreement than disagreement from Americans, 54% to 19%.” (“Taxes May Be Certain, But Tax Reform Is Not,” Gallup, 6/29/2017)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: ‘The Death Tax. … It’s Just Plain Wrong’
THEN-CANDIDATE DONALD TRUMP: “No family will have to pay the death tax. American workers have paid taxes their whole lives. It’s just plain wrong and most people agree with that. We will repeal it.” (Donald Trump, Speech To The Detroit Economic Club, 8/8/2016)

• “…the estate tax is an annoying throwback that can make people's blood boil, even if it is not widely paid. Current law exempts estates worth $5.45 million or less. Beyond that, you pay 40%.” (“Yes Dilbert, Trump Could Finally Kill The Death Tax,” Forbes, 11/23/2016)

TAX FOUNDATION: “Estate and inheritance taxes are poor economic policy. They fall almost exclusively on the domestic capital stock—the accumulated wealth that makes America richer and more productive as a whole. Taxes levied on the capital stock restrict job growth and harm the economy. This study finds that repealing the U.S. estate tax would lead to the creation of nearly 150,000 jobs and would eventually increase federal tax receipts by $8 billion per year.” (“Estate And Inheritance Taxes Around The World,” Tax Foundation, 3/17/2015)

• TAX FOUNDATION: “The U.S. has the fourth highest estate or inheritance tax rate in the OECD at 40 percent; the world’s highest rate, 55 percent, is in Japan, followed by South Korea (50 percent) and France (45 percent). Fifteen OECD countries levy no taxes on property passed to lineal heirs.” (“Estate And Inheritance Taxes Around The World,” Tax Foundation, 3/17/2015)

Many Senate Democrats Have Supported Repealing The Death Tax
In 2000, 9 Democrat senators, including Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR), voted to repeal the death tax. (H.R. 8, Roll Call Vote #197: Passed 59-39: D 9-35; R 50-4, 7/14/2000, Feinstein, Murray, and Wyden voted Yea)

In 2002, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) voted in favor of repealing the death tax. (H.R. 8, Roll Call Vote #151: Motion rejected 54-44: D 9-41; R 45-2; I 0-1, 6/12/2002, Wyden and Nelson voted Yea)

In 2005, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) introduced a bipartisan bill to repeal the death tax. (S. 420, 109^th Congress, Introduced 2/17/2005)

In 2006, Sen. Nelson and 3 other Democrat senators voted to permanently repeal the death tax. (H.R. 8, Roll Call Vote #164: Motion rejected 57-41: D 4-38; R 53-2; I 0-1, 6/08/2006, Nelson voted Yea)

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) voted in favor of repealing the death tax in 2013 and 2015. (S. Con. Res. 8, Roll Call Vote #67: Rejected 46-53 : D 2-50; R 44-1; I 0-2, 3/22/2013, Manchin voted Yea; S. Con. Res. 11, Roll Call Vote #114: Adopted 54-46 : R 53-1; D 1-43; I 0-2, 3/26/2015, Manchin voted Yea

SEN. RON WYDEN (D-OR): “As you know, Oregon has an extraordinary concentration of family-owned businesses, businesses which live under the constant threat of crippling estate taxes. I crossed party lines last year and voted to bring an end to the estate tax.” (Sen. Wyden, Press Release, 5/31/2002)

• SEN. WYDEN: “Democrats believe in standing up for working families. No one will suffer more than the employees of family-owned companies in this state that will break up, or sell out to larger corporations, in order to satisfy their estate tax obligations. Democrats believe in standing up for the environment. Yet most environmentalists have never thought about what happens to farmland and timberland when heirs are forced to quickly pay their estate tax bills. If you oppose losing farmland to strip malls, or if you worry about unwise forestry practices on private lands, you should stand with me and work to repeal the estate tax.” (Sen. Wyden, Press Release, 5/31/2002)
• SEN. WYDEN: “The estate tax is anti-worker, anti-environment, and anti-Oregon, and it is time for it to go.” (Sen. Wyden, Press Release, 5/31/2002)

SEN. BILL NELSON (D-FL): “It's time we permanently repeal the tax on possessions that people leave to their children.” (Press Release, 2/17/2005)

• SEN. NELSON: “…could not support an amendment that does not reflect my position of support for total repeal of the estate tax.” (Sen. Nelson, Congressional Record, S. 5428, 5/22/2001)

SEN. PATTY MURRAY (D-WA): “I believe we need to repeal the estate tax. It is bad for businesses. It's bad for workers and new job creation. And it's bad for our communities who are watching their local, family-owned businesses get swallowed up by large corporations.” (Sen. Murray, Press Release, 6/11/2002)

• SEN. MURRAY: “In 2000, I cosponsored legislation by Senator Jon Kyl and former Senator Bob Kerrey to repeal the estate tax, and I voted for similar legislation later that year.” (Sen. Murray, Press Release, 6/11/2002)

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) signed A “Death Tax Repeal Pledge” when he ran for the Senate in 2010. (Deathtaxrepealpledge.org, Accessed 9/25/2017)

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