Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim in CT
You and wayne, crying that the wealthy is taking something from the test of us.
How would you stop the wealth gap from increasing? Are you saying you answered that dozens of times? Try zero.
We tried an assault weapons ban. We tried it. It didn't do anything. SO what's your idea?
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Former President Donald Trump increased the estate and gift tax exemptions to $11.7 million for individuals and $23.4 million for married couples through the Republicans' 2017 tax overhaul. However, those provisions will sunset after 2025, slashing the thresholds down to about $6 million and $12 million, respectively.
Yep Trump doubled the estate and gift tax.
But if you get lucky in the lottery of life and land an inheritance, you owe no federal tax. That isn’t fair, is it? Extending the federal income tax to include inheritances would end that inequity.
Nearly unencumbered transfers of wealth permitted under current law perpetuate those imbalances, creating dynasties of the rich and hampering economic and social mobility.
As recently as 1976 the estate tax applied to more than 7 percent of all descendants at a top rate of 70 percent. In 2019, however, just 0.07 percent of all descendants will owe any estate tax, a 99 percent decrease. Successive increases in the estate tax exemption over the last political generation have let all but the wealthiest — and those who neglect to consult lawyers and accountants — escape estate tax almost entirely.
The latest increase in the estate tax exemption came in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. It doubled the already generous estate tax exemption from $11.4 million to $22.8 million for couples, a limit that, as under prior law, will rise with inflation. Congress hid much of the long-term revenue loss from the 2017 law by scheduling many provisions, including the estate tax exemption increase, to expire in 2026. It is a good bet, however, that before 2026 rolls around Congress will make the exemption increase permanent.
That’s how the wealth gap increases