Estate Tax
* Now that the House of Representatives has voted to eliminate the federal estate tax (June 10), I would suggest it review Republican President Theodore Roosevelt’s Dec. 3, 1906, message proposing a graduated inheritance tax and graduated income tax, in which he stated, “The man of great wealth owes a peculiar obligation to the state, because he derives special advantage from the mere existence of government.”
Since only about 1% of the estates of those who die each year now pay over $24 billion in federal death taxes, the question Congress should answer is how it proposes to make up the elimination of this revenue. To justify eliminating a tax that since 1916 has been a regular part of the federal tax system, was used by the Romans in the first century and has been common in most European countries for over 100 years, the Republicans cite families who must sell family farms and businesses to pay such death taxes. To support such a contention, the Congress should let us know the exact number of such sales per year for the past 10 years.
NORMAN G. AXE
Santa Monica
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