From DJ Mitchell
I keep reading about the dreaded estate tax and the “necessity” of repealing it. The politicians make it sound like this a terrible burden on American families– and it’s easy to agree that the avergage American family needs no additional burdens.
But here are some projections from a presentation at an AICPA conference*:
People dying in 2009 whose estates will owe estate tax: 0.3%
People dying in 2009 whose estates will need to file a tax return: 0.6%
In other words, 99.7% of Americans who die in 2009 will *not* owe estate tax.
Clearly this is a tax only on the very rich– less than one percent will have to pay. I wish someone would explain to me how this could possibly be a burden on the American family!
dj.
* Hank Gutman, of Federal Tax Legislative and Regulatory Services, Washington National Tax; presenting at Las Vegas, NV, on May 3, 2005.