Wendy Sherman: “Only 2 percent of American families pay a single penny of estate tax. This is because the tax is designed so that a…”

“Only 2 percent of American families pay a single penny of estate tax. This is because the tax is designed so that a husband and wife can leave their first $2 million, first $2 million to their heirs without paying a penny in tax. So this tax is for those who are asked, do you want to be a millionaire, and literally became millionaires, $2 million. Literally millionaire, that word meaning someone who inherits a million dollars. The tax, of course, does not fall upon the decedent but rather on their heirs. The tax falls exclusively on billionaires by definition. The tax is an obnoxious tax as all taxes are obnoxious. But if we are going to start to abolish taxes, we ought to start abolishing the ones that hit working families the hardest. This is a tax that falls exclusively, not on the fruits of the effort of the person paying the tax, but on the fruits of inheritance instead. Now, we are told that this tax represents double taxation.”