The estate tax has been an important source of revenue for the federal government in one form or another since 1916.
Once again, the GOP is stepping up its calls to make tax cuts for the rich permanent and is aggressively promoting a repeal of the estate tax. The estate tax, now dubbed the "death tax" by neo-conservatives, affects only the very richest of Americans and then only the heirs of multi-millionaires and billionaires as if it really matters. The decedent is not affected at all by the estate tax, since he or she is now pushing up daisies, only his or her heirs may be affected by the estate tax.
I'm not so sure the overwhelming majority of Americans have any interest in perpetuating what has become an aristocracy of overwhelming wealth, power and influence. So, one might ask "Why tax inheritors of large fortunes?" Because it's still an important source of federal revenue.
Conservatives deceitfully portray the estate tax as a "death tax" on small family-owned businesses. The fact of the matter is that less than 1 percent of the people who inherit an estate pay any estate tax at all, and half of the revenue from that tax comes from estates valued at $10 million or more. As the estate tax law is now constituted, only an individual inheriting more than $5 million dollars (for couples, $10 million dollars) will pay the estate tax. The current inheritance tax on estates is 35 percent, but only on the amount exceeding $5 million dollars ($10 million for couples). The consequence of repealing the estate tax is this: the loss in federal revenue would be staggering, an estimated $680 billion dollars over the next decade. This loss of revenue combined with the tax reductions on unearned income is going to bring us to the point of no return. Adding further to our national debt is unsustainable. We may have already reached that point of no return.
Read More
How one professor and her classes are preserving Oxford’s Black history
By Sean Scott | March 20, 2024Jazma Sutton, an assistant professor of history, teaches The Black Midwest (HST 350Q) and Black Women in America (HST 450D) classes. In both courses, she has students working with the Smith Library of Regional History and Miami’s archives to document and preserve Black history in Oxford.
Miami faculty members recount Freedom Summer in new documentary
By Luke Macy | February 25, 2022After seven years of work, “Training for Freedom,” a documentary highlighting Oxford’s involvement in the Freedom Summer of 1964, premiered on PBS Western Reserve on Valentine’s Day.
“Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic”: History in the making
By Alice Momany | August 29, 2021In March 2020, Miami University’s archives launched “Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic,” a collection focused on life during the COVID-19 pandemic.