Republicans in both houses of congress are introducing bills to permanently repeal the estate tax. While bills like this are customarily introduced, the While House is taking steps to formally criticize these bills. WH spokesman Josh Earnest even went so far as calling the bill “fiscally irresponsible”. The libertarian Cato Institute, on the other hand, calls the estate tax itself an “immoral” tax because it taxes income and earning that have already been taxed. Repbuclicans argue that the estate tax harms businesses and family farms.
Annually, the estate tax brings in around $300 Billion a year in tax revenues, which is no small sum. However, opponents of the estate tax argue that that still makes up less than one-half of one-percent of all U.S. tax revenues.
Notwithsanding the fact that the revenue creation from the estate tax is relatively “small”, it is likely here to stay for a very long time. In part, due to the fact that the political opinions on the estate tax run deep and are firmly held on both sides of the isle.