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Some
of wealthiest say go ahead, tax us
In opposing the estate tax, the
Waltons have joined a battle made unusual by the
fact that some rich families take the opposite
stance.
Supporters of the estate tax
include William Gates Sr., father of Microsoft's
co-founder, and Warren Buffett of Berkshire
Hathaway. The younger Gates, the world's richest
person, is worth $46.5 billion; Buffett is No. 2,
with $44 billion, says Forbes.
Tax opponents, like the
Waltons, include 65 families organized by the
private Policy and Taxation Group of Santa Ana,
Calif. It declines to identify the families. The
group spent $800,000 lobbying Congress last year,
public documents show.
Government watchdogs say the
group has included the winemaking Gallos of
California and the candymaking Mars family of New
Jersey and Virginia. The Gallos are worth $950
million and the Mars family, $20 billion, Forbes
says.
A Gallo spokesman said the
tax is "not a priority for them." The Mars
family declined to comment.
The tax is now collected
after death on stocks and other assets worth more
than $1.5 million that aren't left to a spouse. This
year's maximum rate for the tax is 47%.
About 2% of all estates are
hit with the tax, says Responsible Wealth, a
non-profit group that supports the tax. It says the
rich should pay the tax because they owe a special
societal debt.
Their riches, often from
entrepreneurial ventures, wouldn't be possible, the
argument goes, without taxpayer-supported schools,
regulatory agencies such as the Securities and
Exchange Commission, and other basic infrastructure
helping fuel business start-ups.
The tax dates to 1916 and the
era of big corporate trusts. Responsible Wealth and
others say it keeps wealth from concentrating in too
few hands, threatening democracy.
Hogwash, says the Family
Business Estate Tax Coalition. "We think you
should pass (wealth) along to your children if you
want to," says Dena Battle, a National
Federation of Independent Business lobbyist.
NFIB is one of 60 trade
groups that say the tax forces the sale of untold
small businesses and family farms. It has not been
able to document many of those sales, however.
By Jim Hopkins, USA TODAY
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