October 11, 2017
Dr. Neil E. Harl was interviewed on NPR Oct. 10 on the wisdom of repealing the federal estate tax. Under current rules, a couple owning less than $11,000,000 in assets can escape the tax completely. Those owning more are taxed on a scale up to a 40 percent rate. As would be expected, the super wealthy favor repeal. Nationally, out of roughly 2.5 million deaths, only about 5,000 in 2014 paid federal estate tax but they paid an average of just over $3,000,000 each.
Previous attempts at repeal of the tax (in 1976 and 2003) were unsuccessful.