Financial Advisor Magazine-he Affluent And The Federal Estate Tax

Financial Advisor Magazine: "The Affluent And The Federal Estate Tax
By Hannah Shaw Grove and Russ Alan Prince

Reform, repeal—and some sharp differences of opinion.

(This is the first in a series of articles about the federal estate tax and what the affluent think about it. To see the full research report, please go to www.ResourceNetworkLTD.com.)

There’s precious little that Republicans and Democrats can agree on these days, and the fate of the estate, or death, tax—whether it should be reformed or repealed or left as is—is definitely not on the list.
That’s hardly surprising, as it would be difficult to come up with a more potent formula for discord than taxes death politics. But the breadth of the debate and the range of “informed” opinion are truly startling. Depending on which side of the argument you come down on, for example, repeal or reform of the estate tax will/will not favor the rich; will/will not increase the federal budget deficit; will/will not be the death knell for tax-deductible charitable giving; will/will not discriminate against farmers and small business owners; will/will not lead to a “trickle down” effect—and so on.