Time to bury 'death tax' (death tax could return to menace family businesses again in 2011)

Washington Times ^ | 11/27/2009 | Ed Feulner

[SeekAndFind]

Kevin Hancock simply wants to harvest trees - sustainably - and create jobs in the process. The federal government may put a stop to all that.

His business, Hancock Lumber, has been in the family for six generations. It owns 30,000 acres of Maine timberland and employs 550 people. But Mr. Hancock already knows that when his elderly mother dies, he'll have to sell off huge swaths of land to pay the ensuing tax bill.

He recently warned a Senate committee that, "Once it has been sold to a developer, it will be parceled off and will no longer be maintained as publicly open forests. This is particularly a shame in southern Maine, where green-space and curtailment of sprawl is a major political issue."

It's an example of the long reach of the death tax - the penalty families have to pay when a loved one dies and leaves them significant assets. Yet for Mr. Hancock and many others, some relief may be in sight. In 2001, lawmakers passed a law that gradually phased out the levy, which has destroyed countless family-owned businesses over the years.

The death tax has been stepped down from 55 percent (for those in the top tax bracket) eight years ago to 45 percent. But that gradual decline was just a prelude for 2010, when the tax will - finally - disappear altogether.

Unfortunately, like the killer in so many slasher movies, the death tax could return to menace family businesses again in 2011. Unless Congress acts, it is scheduled to return to the obscene 55 percent rate after next year, thus reawakening the nightmare of the American dream.

Lawmakers are poised to act soon. But Americans should insist they take the right action.

[xcamel]

Kevin is a FRiend of mine, and is right on the money.

[DontTreadOnMe2009]

Let me get this straight.

You’re taxed your entire life, and then when you die, your children are taxed 55% on the little that is left!

Is this not outrageous ??????????

[raybbr]

Let me get this straight. You’re taxed your entire life, and then when you die, your children are taxed 55% on the little that is left! Is this not outrageous ??????????

Uh, you're just finding out about this? Welcome to FR. :)

[SeekAndFind]

You’re taxed your entire life, and then when you die, your children are taxed 55% on the little that is left!

Only when you're deemed wealthy enough to be taxed. If your estate is worth something like $3.5 Million, your heirs are screwed.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Is this not outrageous ?

No it is not outrageous.

It is obscene.

At the very least, taxing monies which have already been taxed should be criminal.

[Red Boots]

The death tax has been a major contributor to the demise of family farms and ranches all over the west. The land, a lot of it homesteaded, is worth more than the annual income of the ranch or farm, and has to be split up and sold to pay the tax. What little is left over is not enough to sustain the farm/ranch economically.

Altho all the Dems and their Hollywood cronies scream about the demise of the family farm, they actually support it with their support of the death tax.

[vetvetdoug]

Sounds like to me that Kevin is in desperate need of some estate planning. There are ways to pass the inheritance and keeping the greedy Democrats and politicians away from the money.

[stephenjohnbanker]

“At the very least, taxing monies which have already been taxed should be criminal. “

Welcome to the criminals of Washington, D.C.

[stephenjohnbanker]

” He probably is aware of a family trust, or the bloodsucking politicians would have confiscated his property a long time ago.

[goodnesswins]

yeah...that’s why Warren Buffet loves his companies....they pick up those organizations who can’t afford to turn the company over to the next generation.....OR....he helps them figure out how to get around it in his OTHER companies. Warren Buffet LOVES the Estate Tax!