Democrats Mark Tax Day With New Bill To Make The Ultra Rich Pay Their Fair Share
House and Senate Democrats Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Jimmy Gomez along with Sen. Bernie Sanders announced an estate tax reform bill that would require the ultra rich to pay their share.
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The For The 99.5% Act
Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash
The office of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) provided an explanation of the new legislation to us:
The For the 99.5 Percent Act establishes a new progressive estate tax rate structure on the top 0.5 percent of Americans who inherit over $3.5 million in wealth. It also imposes a 45 percent tax rate on estates worth $3.5 million and a 65 percent tax rate on the value of an estate worth over $1 billion. This is not a radical idea. In fact, from 1941-1976, the top estate tax rate was 77 percent on estates worth more than $50 million.
This legislation would also end tax breaks for dynasty trusts, close other loopholes in the estate and gift tax, and provide protections for family farmers by allowing them to lower the value of their farmland by up to $3 million for estate tax purposes.
While Democrats are working to make tax system fairer, 41 Senate Republicans have introduced legislation that would give the rich a $1.8 trillion tax cut by repealing the estate tax.
The Democratic bill won’t pass this year or next, but as we discuss below, this legislation is about preparing for the next Congress.
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