Trumka: Boost Fairness and Revenue with Estate Tax Reinstatement (14.8 billion so far this year)

http://blog.aflcio.org/2010/07/21/trumka-boost-fairness-and-revenue-with-estate-tax-reinstatement/

by Mike Hall, Jul 21, 2010

New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and hundreds of other multimillionaires (and some billionaires, like Steinbrenner) who have passed away this year disproved the old adage, “the only two things certain in life are death and taxes.”

They couldn’t dodge death, but their estates have dodged taxes—some $14.8 billion so far this year, according to Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). The federal estate tax that in the past applied to multimillion-dollar fortunes fully expired at the end of 2009, after President George W. Bush’s 2001 $1.35 trillion tax cut package for the wealthy exempted larger and larger estates from the levy each year.

Today, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, philanthropist and Walt Disney heir Abigail Disney and others called for a reinstatement of the tax.

During a telephone press conference sponsored today by United for a Fair Economy (UFE), Trumka said:

Today, the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, the suspension of the estate tax and other policies favoring the super-rich are key contributors to our nation’s budget deficits.

Our nation desperately needs revenue to invest in job growth, education, health and infrastructure.

Rubin said the revenue generated by an estate tax could be used for public investments that would create “a rapid spend out” to boost job creation.

It’s time to restore the estate tax and restore it now. It’s a progressive tax and can supply revenue without any supply side effects.

FULL story at link.