CSE urges House to kill the “Death Tax”

Today, Citizen’s for a Sound Economy called on the House of Representatives to override President Clinton’s veto of “The Death Tax Elimination Act.”

The Clinton-Gore administration is paying lip service to tax cuts, just as they promised American families tax relief in 1992 and 1996. But, as history indicates, when given the opportunity to sign a tax cut into law, they give us nothing more than excuses and empty rhetoric.

“We now need the House to stick to its guns and give Americans a break from this unfair and anti- entrepreneurial tax,” said CSE President Paul Beckner.

With rates as high as 55 percent, the death tax punishes people who build a successful business or farm and try to leave that legacy to their kids. Moreover, the Death Tax’s modest contributions to the federal Treasury are more than off-set by its staggering impact on the U.S. economy.

Small-business owners are being hurt by this unfair death tax. In 1996, 53 percent of the death tax returns were for estates valued below $1 million, and 96 percent of the returns were for estates valued below $5 million. These business owners are not the Kennedys, Rockefellers and Carnegies, they are our neighbors, community leaders and roll models.

“Repealing the Death Tax is the right thing to do for American family farms, businesses and the New Economy,” said Beckner. “It is also the right thing to do to protect American values at a minimal cost to the U.S Treasury.”

To learn more about the “Death Tax,” go to http://www.cse.org/informed/734.html