Ohio’s repeal of its estate tax more than two years ago has had a disastrous impact on local communities that relied on revenue from the tax to pay for essential public services.
Now, Republicans in Congress want to repeal the federal estate tax – a giveaway that would hand $270 billion in tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires during the next decade – even as they claim to care about rising wealth inequality.
The measure, which the House passed earlier this month, is unlikely to gain approval in the Senate, and certainly not from President Obama. But it reflects the extreme anti-tax agenda that has come to characterize the GOP.
Opponents of the estate tax like to claim that they represent the interests of struggling small businesses, even though virtually no small-business owners pay the tax. It affects only individuals who inherit estates worth $5.43 million, or married couples who inherit $10.86 million – the richest 0.2 percent of Americans.
Opponents call it a "death tax" that punishes heirs for the hard work of their family members. But such cynical labels misstate the roles of the tax: to limit the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few, and to require wealthy Americans to pay a fair share of taxes on fortunes they did not earn.
These proposals are unlikely to go anywhere soon. But lawmakers must preserve the few antidotes to inequality that exist – and leave the estate tax alone.
