Political Quotes

“The U.S. Treasury estimates that the estate tax reduces bequests by 14 percent. Individuals are either choosing to save less or rely heavily on estate planning, which is a large deadweight loss to the economy. The death tax costs more money to comply with than it raises in revenue. As I said before, there is a direct correlation between the two. Economists Henry Aaron and Alicia Munnell estimated the amount spent on avoiding the death tax is approximately equal to the amount collected. The IRS estimates it takes about 38 hours to complete form 706, the Federal estate tax return. Estate planning for businesses can range from $5,000 to $250,000 for family limited partnerships and up to $1 million for closely held businesses. Fifty-two percent of the estates that filed a return were required to incur sizable legal, accounting, and other professional expenses even though they owed no tax. So my point about the death tax is that almost no one thinks it is fair. Almost everybody acknowledges it should be reformed. We have tried year after year to reform it. We have not been able to get the necessary votes to accomplish that, though virtually every Republican has supported reform.”