Campaign for Liberty to Congress: Death is not a taxable event

Campaign for Liberty has joined a collation of 133 free-market advocacy and business organisations in support of the Death Tax Repeal Act (H.R. 631/S. 205). Campaign for Liberty members who support repealing the death tax should call their Representatives  and ask them to cosponsor H.R. 613 and their Senators and ask them to cosponsor S. 631. Here is the text of the collation letter:

January 24, 2017 Senator John Thune 511 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Congresswoman Kristi Noem 2457 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 CC: Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker Paul Ryan, Chairman Orrin Hatch, Chairman Kevin Brady, and Congressman Sanford Bishop Dear Senator Thune and Congresswoman Noem: The undersigned organizations support your bill, the Death Tax Repeal Act of 2017. We appreciate your work to lead the country towards a common sense tax code that does not impose a destructive double or triple tax at death. We support full and permanent repeal of the federal estate tax for the following reasons: Repealing the death tax would spur job creation and grow the economy. Many studies have quantified the potential job growth that would result from estate tax repeal. Last year the Tax Foundation found that the US could create over 150,000 jobs by repealing the estate tax. A 2012 study by the House Joint Economic Committee found that the death tax has destroyed over $1.1 trillion of capital in the US economy – loss of small business capital means fewer jobs and lower wages. Lawrence Summers, former Secretary of the Treasury under President Clinton; Alicia Munell, member of President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors; Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate for economics; and Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former CBO Director have all published work on the death tax’s stifling effect on job growth and the economy as a whole. The death tax contributes a very small portion of federal revenues. The estate tax currently accounts for approximately one half of one percent of federal revenue. There is a good argument that not collecting the estate tax would create more economic growth and lead to an increase in federal revenue from other taxes. A 2016 Tax Foundation analysis found repeal of the death tax would increase federal income taxes by $145 billion over 10 years using a more realistic, “dynamic” economic analysis. In addition, the death tax forces family businesses to waste money on expensive insurance policies and estate planning. These burdensome compliance costs make it even harder for business owners to expand their businesses and create more jobs. A super-majority of likely voters support eliminating the death tax. Poll after poll has indicated that a super-majority of likely voters support repealing the estate tax. Typically, twothirds of likely voters support full and permanent repeal of the death tax. People instinctively feel that the estate tax is not fair. A 2016 state poll by YouGov conducted in South Dakota showed 75 percent of voters supported repealing the estate tax. The death tax is unfair. It makes no sense to require grieving families to pay a confiscatory tax on their loved one’s nest egg. Far too often this tax is paid by selling family assets like farms and businesses. Other times, employees of the family business must be laid off and payrolls slashed. No one should be punished for fulfilling the American dream. The negative effects of the estate tax make permanent repeal the only solution for family businesses and farms. Your legislation will help America’s family businesses create jobs, expand operations, and grow the economy. We thank you for your continued leadership on this important issue.

Campaign for Liberty is also supporting the Protect Family Farms and Businesses Act (S. 47/H.R. 308). This legislation overturns proposed regulations changing the estate tax discount valuations for family businesses, thus increasing the estate on those business when the owner dies. This regulation has been withdrawn as part of the Trump administration’s freeze on “pending” regulations. Last year, Campaign for Liberty joined a collation letter in opposition to those rules:

September 22, 2016 Secretary Jack Lew U.S. Department of the Treasury 1500 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20220 CC: Chairman Orrin Hatch, Chairman Kevin Brady, Ranking Member Ron Wyden, Ranking Member Sander Levin Dear Secretary Lew: The undersigned organizations oppose the Department of Treasury’s proposed changes to Section 2704 on estate and gift tax valuation discounts. These rules will significantly change family businesses’ succession plans and make it harder for family owned businesses to transition to the next generation. The changes proposed to Section 2704 would remove legitimate valuation discounts for estate, gift, and generation skipping taxes which businesses have used for the past two decades in order to prevent the IRS from overvaluing their businesses at death. These proposed regulations would force even more family businesses and farms to grapple with the complicated and costly estate tax. Moreover, Treasury’s action does not comport with the will of Congress. On April 16, 2015, the House passed the Death Tax Repeal Act (H.R. 1105) on a bipartisan basis 240-179. In March 2015, the Senate passed a budget amendment to repeal the estate tax (S. Amdt. 607) and in 2013, 80 Senators voted to “to repeal or reduce the estate tax, but only if done in a fiscally responsible way” (S. Amdt. 693). Bypassing Congress to enact rules subjecting more family businesses to the estate tax rebukes the hard work elected officials have done to reform and repeal the tax altogether. The undersigned organizations strongly oppose the Treasury Department forcing more family businesses to pay the estate tax through changes to Section 2704. Contrarily, we support full and permanent repeal of the estate tax for the following reasons: Repealing the estate tax would spur job creation and grow the economy. Many studies have quantified the jobs that would be gained from estate tax repeal. A recent Tax Foundation study found that the US could create over 150,000 jobs by repealing the estate tax. A 2012 study by the House Joint Economic Committee found that the estate tax has destroyed over $1.1 trillion of capital in the US economy – loss of small business capital means fewer jobs and lower wages. Lawrence Summers, former Secretary of the Treasury under President Clinton; Alicia Munell, member of President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors; Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate for economics; and Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former CBO Director have all published work on the estate tax’s stifling effect on job growth and the economy as a whole. The estate tax contributes a very small portion of federal revenues. The estate tax currently accounts for less than one percent of federal revenue. There is a good argument that not collecting the estate tax would create more economic growth and lead to an increase in federal revenue from other taxes. In addition, the estate tax forces family businesses to waste money on expensive insurance policies and estate planning. These burdensome compliance costs make it even harder for business owners to expand their businesses and create more jobs. The estate tax falls particularly hard on minorities. The estate tax threatens to confiscate generational capital from African-American and minority communities. Estate tax liabilities bankrupted the Chicago Defender – the oldest black-owned daily newspaper in the United States. According to a 2004 Impacto Group poll, 50 percent of Hispanic business owners know someone who sold their business to pay the estate tax and a quarter expect to sell their business because of the estate tax. A super-majority of likely voters support eliminating the estate tax. Poll after poll has indicated that a super-majority of likely voters support repealing the estate tax. Typically, twothirds of likely voters support full and permanent repeal of the estate tax. People instinctively feel that the estate tax is not fair. The estate tax is unfair. It makes no sense to require grieving families to pay a confiscatory tax on their loved one’s lifetime savings. Often this tax is paid by selling family assets like farms and businesses. Other times, employees of the family business must be laid off and payrolls slashed. No one should be punished for fulfilling the American dream. The undersigned organizations strongly suggest that the Treasury Department support family businesses seeking to pass to the next generation by withdrawing their proposed changes to Section 2704.