This will help prevent a “landed gentry” (or permanent wealthy class) in our nation. It may not pass soon, but just asking for it moves the cause forward. It is important if one takes gross economic inequality seriously.
Restoring fair taxation on multi-million dollar estates. Clinton is joining President Obama and other Democrats in calling for returning the Estate Tax to 2009 parameters, and lower the exemption for the Estate Tax from almost $11 million today, while raising the Estate Tax rate. And she will go further than that for estates valued in the tens and hundreds of millions, with higher rates as values rise, up to a 65% rate on estates valued at over $1 billion per couple. Hillary has called for Estate Tax reform for more than a decade, and embraced similar proposals in her 2008 presidential campaign. The Estate Tax only impacts the very largest estates, and the reformed Estate Tax would only affect the wealthiest 4 out of every 1,000 estates in the country.[10]Her plan would also crack down on loopholes in the Estate Tax, including methods that people can now use to make their estates appear to be worth less than they really are.[11]
Clinton Factsheet: Investing in America by Restoring Basic Fairness to Our Tax Code
More about this from Slate:
It appears Hillary Clinton just embraced one of Bernie Sanders' big ideas for soaking the rich. As the Committee for a Responsible Budget notes in a new report out on Thursday, the Democratic nominee has radically revamped her plan to raise the estate tax
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Previously, Clinton said she would restore the tax on dead rich folks to its 2009 levels, pushing up the rate from 40 percent to 45 percent, and making it kick in for estates worth at least $3.5 million (today, it only hits those valued at $5.45 million or more). But, no longer. Instead, she's borrowed a page from her formal primary rival, and now proposes turning the levy into a progressive tax—meaning it will take a bigger bite out of wealthier estates—with a top rate of 65 percent. The last time the estate tax hit that level was in 1982, though back then it also kicked in on smaller inheritances.
Slate: Hillary Clinton Just Declared War on the Rich Kids of Instagram
Bernie Sanders had called for a similar progressive estate tax:
Raises the estate tax rate from 40 percent to a set of rates ranging between 45 percent and 65 percent.Details and Analysis of Senator Bernie Sanders’s Tax Plan
Donald Jr. and Ivanka may be worried. If Trump actually has a billion.
This is an important policy. Very glad that Hillary chose this policy.