John,
Last week, news broke that our nation’s deficit soared to the highest level it’s been in seven years (when our country was consciously deficit spending to climb out of the Great Recession).[1]
Why is this happening now? In short: the massive loss of tax revenue due to the Trump-GOP Tax Cuts giveaway to the rich and corporations.
One example: prior to the Trump Tax Cuts, a married couple’s estate valued at $11 million or less didn’t owe a dime in estate taxes. Trump doubled that figure, exempting the value of estates under $22 million from taxation.
And now we’re living with the effects of that loss in tax revenue from the very wealthiest U.S. families.
Prior to Trump’s tax cut, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the estate tax would generate $25 billion in Fiscal Year 2019.[2] We just learned the actual revenue collected was only $16.6 billion, a full 33% lower than what was forecast before the Trump-GOP Tax Cuts.[3]
Thankfully, Rep. Jimmy Gomez and 37 other members of Congress just introduced legislation in the House last week ― the For the 99.8% Act (H.R. 4857) ― that would both restore and improve the estate tax and apply only to the wealthiest U.S. households.
Rep. Gomez’s bill would apply the estate tax to a couple’s estate worth more than $7 million ― the same level as in 2009. The tax would only be paid by the richest 0.2%, yet would still raise $330 billion over the next 10 years. A companion bill was introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders earlier this year in the U.S. Senate.
The For the 99.8% Act is a critical bill to address the transfer of generational wealth (think about the Koch brothers and the Walton family) and would address rising levels of income and wealth inequality.
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund is leading the charge to enact the Gomez-Sanders bills into law. So please donate today to improve the Federal Estate Tax and ensure that America’s wealthiest families are paying their fair share.
At a time when the growing gap between the richest 1% and everyone else is creating enormous wealth inequality and devastating our ability to invest in critical services that benefit working families, it is critical that we strengthen the Federal Estate Tax ― a tool that puts a check on the transfer of generational wealth among our nation’s richest families.
Donate to Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund today to pass the For the 99.8% Act and demand a fair share tax system where the wealthiest Americans do their part to invest in our country’s future.
Thank you for helping to change the national conversation and demanding a tax system and an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few.
Frank Clemente
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund
[1] “U.S. Budget Deficit Hits $984 Billion, Highest In 7 Years,” TIME, October 25, 2019
[2] “An Update to the Budget and Economic Outlook: 2017 to 2027,” Congressional Budget Office, June 29, 2017
[3] “Final Monthly Treasury Statement: Receipts and Outlays of the United States Government For Fiscal Year 2019 Through September 30, 2019 and Other Periods,” U.S. Department of the Treasury, Oct. 13, 2019
