Mnuchin Says Estate Tax Repeal Will Help ‘Rich People’ Most
Mr. Mnuchin said the estate tax should be eliminated for both philosophical and economic reasons. He said that many taxpayers give the government half their income during their lives and that they should not have to give away a big chunk when they die — even if their families are wealthy.
“Obviously, the estate tax, I will concede, disproportionately helps rich people,”
Mr. Mnuchin’s comments contrasted starkly with his boss, President Trump, who pilloried the estate tax in a speech in Indiana last month by saying it is a drag on the working class.
“To protect millions of small businesses and the American farmer, we are finally ending the crushing, the horrible, the unfair estate tax, or as it is often referred to, the death tax,” Mr. Trump said.
.. Couples can leave their heirs as much as $11 million, none of it taxed, meaning only a few thousand wealthy estates are subject to the tax a year.
.. Just 80 small farms and closely held businesses are expected to pay an estate tax in 2017, the center, a right-leaning think tank, projected.