Newsletter: Straight Talk with Sam - Killing the Death Tax

Statement

Dear Friend,

Death and taxes. According to Benjamin Franklin, these are the only real certainties in life. Unfortunately, even in death, taxes remain a certainty for far too many Americans.

The death tax, also known as the estate tax, was originally implemented in 1916 to help pay for World War I. Like many taxes, it was meant to be temporary. Nearly 100 years later, the death tax not only persists, but is significantly more burdensome today than it was initially meant to be.

In 2001, Congress started down the long road of eliminating the death tax. The taxable rate was reduced each year until 2010, when it was phased out completely for one year. Unfortunately, instead of ending the death tax once and for all, rates were increased to 35% for 2011 and 2012.

According to a study by the Joint Economic Committee, the death tax is the number one reason family businesses do not survive from one generation to the next. Many small businesses or farms do not have cash to tax, but insteadassets like land or machinery. These assets have already been taxed once in life, they simply do not need to be taxed again at death.

I believe we should eliminate the death tax completely. Death should not be a taxable event. Please know I will continue my fight to end the death tax, which unfairly burdens small businesses and farming families across America.

Sincerely,

Sam Graves

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