Bernie Sanders proposes dramatic expansion in estate tax on richest Americans

[jmyrlefuller]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/taxes/bernie-sanders-proposes-dramatic-expansion-in-estate-tax-on-richest-americans/ar-BBSZTog

by Jeff Stein
January 31, 2019

Sanders’s bill, the “For the 99.8% Act,” would tax the estates of the 0.2 percent of Americans who inherit more than $3.5 million, while the rest of the country “would not see their taxes go up by one penny under this plan,” according to aides to the Vermont senator, who is considering a 2020 presidential bid.

Sanders’s plan would restore the 77 percent top estate tax rate that was in place in the U.S. from 1941 to 1976, tax estates worth more than $3.5 million, and create several new estate tax brackets, including a 55 percent rate on estates worth more than $50 million.

“It is literally beyond belief that the Republican leadership wants to provide hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to the top 0.2 percent of our population. . . . This is not only insane, it tells us the degree to which the billionaire class controls the Republican Party,”

(excerpt)

[jmyrlefuller]

1. Election-season ploy. He knows this isn't going anywhere but needs to re-establish his cred with the socialists.

2. Y'know, he might find a little more sympathy if he put it as taxing the dead and the Lucky Sperm Club than by insisting it's his usual tired canard of "taxing the rich." This country still puts a lot of value in income that's rightfully earned. Of course, the fact that he's still framing it as a "tax the rich" issue in general points straight back to my first point.