{"id":1505,"date":"2019-07-16T18:48:42","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T01:48:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/feusa\/from-the-president-7-12-weekly-update\/"},"modified":"2019-07-16T18:48:47","modified_gmt":"2019-07-17T01:48:47","slug":"from-the-president-7-12-weekly-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/estate-taxes\/from-the-president-7-12-weekly-update\/","title":{"rendered":"From the President \u2013 7-12 \u2013 Weekly Update"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It took a while, but the dueling letters\u201d by the wealthy to either tax them more or figure out better ways to create wealth opportunities for others has just gotten another response.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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While it will come as no surprise as to where the Washington Post editorial board might fall on this debate, they began with a bit of a shocker by saying that a \u201cwealth tax isn\u2019t the best way to tax the rich.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0<\/div>\n
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But \u2018let\u2019s not get carried away.\u00a0The reasons they state for not liking a wealth tax are mainly administrative and practical, since all the European countries that tried it failed.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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No they have a better and much simpler idea: \u201c\u201drepeal those provisions of the 2017 tax law that restored favored treatment to large estates; to reduce the favorable treatment of capital gains in general; and to eliminate the huge break for profits on the sale of stock by people who inherit it from rich benefactors.\u201d\u201d Not exactly on our side about taxing success!<\/div>\n
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What I found interesting in their short proclamation was they \u2018didn\u2019t reach for even more.\u00a0The corporate tax rate \u2013 which was permanently dropped 14 percentage points by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) raises a significant amount of money if it could roll back.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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For every percentage point they move it up, they can bring roughly $100 billion into the coffers to help pay for the large number of \u201cfree\u201d items that we all know \u2018aren\u2019t really free!<\/div>\n
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If \u201csaner\u201d<\/strong> minds can hopefully talk progressive policymakers down off the ledge of a wealth tax, we know there are more direct threats to the Estate tax than just an editorial screed.\u00a0As we reported earlier, the House Ways & Means Committee has already approved a bill to rollback the doubling of the Estate Tax exemption included in the TCJA.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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We \u2018don\u2019t expect that vehicle to see legislative action anymore as we believe it was just a \u201cmarker\u201d for the House Democrats to outline their tax priorities in any tax extenders final package.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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However, it \u2018doesn\u2019t end there!<\/div>\n
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Just this week a Senator proposed hiking the estate tax to benefit Social Security<\/a>.\u00a0Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)\u00a0introduced a bill, the Strengthen Social Security by Taxing Dynastic Wealth Act,\u00a0<\/a>which would return the estate tax exemption to 2009 levels, and also raise the top estate and gift tax rate to 45% from 40%.\u00a0\u00a0<\/div>\n
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\u201cI can think of no better way to use that revenue than to strengthen Social Security,\u201d Mr. Van Hollen said in a statement.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThis program has been under attack in recent years, and we must fight to protect it. With this new legislation, we can ensure all hardworking men and women have financial security in their later years \u2014 not just the wealthy few.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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Sadly, we believe more is to come.\u00a0We are hearing that the House Democrats want to address the State and Local Tax Deduction (SALT).\u00a0As you may recall, the TCJA limited the SALT deduction to $10,000, and the limit is not indexed for inflation.\u00a0Previously, taxpayers could have deducted from taxable income all their state and local property tax as well as either their income or sales taxes.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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This provision mostly hurt \u201cblue\u201d states like New York, New Jersey, California, Connecticut and Maryland where the high state and local taxes were ignored as they could just be credited to an individual\u2019s federal tax liability.\u00a0We \u2018don\u2019t yet know exactly what changes are being envisioned by the House (full repeal, raising the $10k limit, etc.) but we do know that they have penciled in \u201ctaxes on the wealthy\u201d to pay for what is ostensibly a give back to the wealthy since more than 96 percent of the people impacted by SALT are those in the top 20 percent of the income distribution (those making $150,000 or more in 2018).\u00a0<\/div>\n
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We will continue to oppose these measure and work to educate policymakers on the ill-advised attacks on the successful, but we need your help to make that happen!<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Forbes takes a\u00a0deeper look\u00a0<\/a>at the consequences of a couple recent Supreme Court tax rulings in\u00a0North Carolina v. Kaestner\u00a0and\u00a0Minnesota v. Fielding.\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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CAPITOL HILL HAPPENINGS<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
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Work on obtaining co-sponsors for Estate Tax Repeal continues and our efforts have garnered four additional co-sponsors in the House.\u00a0Representatives Sam Graves (R-MO), Kevin Hern (OK-1), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), and Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) all signed on\u00a0bringing the total number in the House up to 112!<\/div>\n
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CAMPAIGN TRAIL<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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BIDEN:\u00a0Former vice president Joe Biden took advantage of a loophole in the tax code that Barack Obama tried to plug.\u00a0<\/a>The Wall Street Journal\u2019s Richard Rubin reports:\u00a0\u201cMr. Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, routed their book and speech income through S corporations, according to tax returns the couple released this week.<\/div>\n
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They paid income taxes on those profits, but the strategy let the couple avoid the 3.8% self-employment tax they would have paid had they been compensated directly instead of through the S corporations. The tax savings were as much as $500,000, compared to what the Bidens would have owed if paid directly or if the Obama proposal had become law.\u201d<\/div>\n
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SANDERS: \u2018NO, MINUS ONE\u2019:\u00a0Haim Saban, the billionaire Democratic donor, spoke with\u00a0The Hollywood Reporter\u00a0\u2018s\u00a0Tatiana Siegel about which presidential candidate he might back.\u00a0<\/a>\u201c\u2018We love all 23 candidates,\u2019 Haim says, then pauses. \u2018No, minus one.<\/div>\n
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I profoundly dislike\u00a0Bernie Sanders<\/a>\u00a0, and you can write it. I don\u2019t give a hoot. He\u2019s a communist under the cover of being a socialist. He thinks that every billionaire is a crook. He calls us \u2018the billionaire class.\u2019 And he attacks us indiscriminately. \u2018It\u2019s the billionaire class, the bad guys.<\/div>\n
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\u2018 This is how communists think. So, 22 are great. One is a disaster zone.’\u201d\u00a0<\/div>\n
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In an op-ed for The Post,\u00a0Bernie Sanders writes that racial equality can be met by attacking the wealth gap<\/a>:\u00a0\u201cExample after example shows that corporate exploitation disproportionately affects black people. Black Americans lost 40 percent of their wealth in the 2009 housing crisis, and were the target of predatory lenders.<\/div>\n
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Black Americans are more likely than white Americans to be paid a minimum wage salary, and black Americans stand to benefit disproportionately from a $15 an hour federal minimum wage. \u2026 The racial wealth gap lingers in part because the politicians who could close it are funded by the very corporate donors who continue to benefit from it.<\/div>\n
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Gross inequality persists largely unchallenged despite the United States\u2019 massive wealth because myths about racial inferiority and the \u2018undeserving poor\u2019 justify the worst effects of unfettered capitalism. As long as corporations can rely on the indifference to black lives as a cover for their exploitation, they will continue to do so.\u201d<\/div>\n
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TRUMP:\u00a0Billionaire\u00a0Bernie Marcus to donate majority of fortune, support Trump for re-election.<\/a><\/div>\n
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STATE NEWS<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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New Jersey:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThey can\u2019t tax us anymore, the middle class is getting wiped out,\u201d former \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d<\/a>cast member and New Jersey resident Joe Piscopo told FOX Business\u2019 Neil Cavuto on Friday, adding that wealthy individuals are leaving the state \u201cin droves.\u201d\u00a0The current top income tax rate on individuals in New Jersey is more than 8 percent, as it is in neighboring New York.\u00a0The SALT cap has hit high-tax states like New York, California and New Jersey particularly hard.\u00a0As a result, affected residents have begun to move to other states\u00a0\u2013 a trend that experts expect to\u00a0accelerate.<\/a><\/div>\n
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As expected,\u00a0Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey\u00a0signed a state budget on Sunday,<\/a>\u00a0right ahead of the deadline \u2014 and he wasn\u2019t happy about it, largely because it didn\u2019t include a millionaires\u2019 tax.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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@realDonaldTrump\u00a0at 10:47 a.m.: \u201cCongratulations to legislators in New Jersey for not passing taxes that would have driven large numbers of high end taxpayers out of the state. Many were planning to leave, & will now be staying. New York & others should start changing their thought process on taxes, fast!\u201d<\/div>\n
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New York:\u00a0New York\u2019s new \u201cmansion tax\u201d is spurring rich people there to hurry up and close deals on homes sales<\/a>, The New York Times says. \u201cThe new tax isn\u2019t causing more new sales, but is motivating earlier closings,\u201d a real estate appraiser tells the paper, by \u201cessentially pulling sales that would have organically closed in July, August and September to beat the tax.\u201d The tax, which took effect July 1, tops out at 3.9 percent on sales of $25 million or more.<\/div>\n
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Norwegians want to start businesses in New York because the taxes there are so low?\u00a0<\/a>Yup. \u201cHundreds of these startups are raring to go, say business executives,\u201d the New York Post\u00a0reports<\/a>.\u00a0\u201cWhile the Big Apple\u2019s cost of living and taxes are among the nation\u2019s highest, it doesn\u2019t compare by a long stretch with that of Norway, with its total tax burden of roughly 45 percent of GDP,\u201d the paper says. In Norway, \u201cpersonal income tax rates hover around 40 percent. Corporate profit tax ranges from 28 percent to as high as 78 percent.\u201d<\/div>\n
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WEEKEND READS<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Democrats want to eliminate corporate tax cut but their tax measure avoids it<\/a>\u00a0There\u2019s no lack of plans from Democrats paid for by undoing at least part of the huge 2017 corporate tax rate cut. But the only Democrat with a tax bill currently moving through Congress is pointedly not talking about revisiting the lower 21 percent rate.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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Taxing the wealthy The Hindu Business Line<\/a>\u2026 on wealth above $1 billion as against no\u00a0wealth tax\u00a0at present; and an\u00a0estate\u00a0tax\u00a0(imposed on the transfer of property upon death \u2013 nick named \u2018death tax\u2019) at the top rate of 77% (proposed by Bernie Sanders ) as against the current\u00a0\u2026<\/div>\n
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MarketWatch reports that itemized charitable contributions\u00a0dropped\u00a0by $54 billion in 2018<\/a>compared to 2017, citing IRS statistics. That seems to bear out fears among charities that contributions would fall as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act\u2019s doubling of the standard deduction.\u00a0MW\u00a0also reports\u00a0that refunds were up for the wealthy.\u00a0<\/a>Those \u201cwith adjusted annual gross incomes between $250,000 and $500,000 were refunded $14.6 billion this year, compared to $10.6 billion last year,\u201d MW reported.<\/div>\n
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\u201cLikewise, taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes between $500,000 and $1 million were refunded $6.1 billion, up from the $5.2 billion a year earlier. Meanwhile, taxpayers making between $100,000 and $200,000 were refunded $44.1 billion this year, down [from]\u00a0$49.7 billion a year earlier. With some exceptions, refunds were slightly lower this year for earners making less than $100,000.\u201d<\/div>\n
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The Tax Foundation published its own, broader\u00a0analysis\u00a0of the IRS data.<\/a><\/div>\n
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\u201cFreshman House class brings less wealth and different economic perspective to Congress,\u201d\u00a0<\/a>from Jennifer Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Times.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The post From the President \u2013 7-12 \u2013 Weekly Update<\/a> appeared first on Policy and Taxation Group<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It took a while, but the dueling letters\u201d by the wealthy to either tax them more or figure out better ways to create wealth opportunities for others has just gotten another response.\u00a0 \u00a0 While it will come as no surprise as to where the Washington Post editorial board might fall on this debate, they began […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1506,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[50,11,5],"class_list":["post-1505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-estate-taxes","tag-death-tax","tag-estate-tax","tag-family-business"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familyenterpriseusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}