A group of 54 Republican legislators recently forwarded correspondence to the party’s leadership urging support for repeal of the death tax in the tax reform bill.
Officials said the legislators are calling for a full repeal of the death tax in the wake of defeating a proposal that would have increased the death tax by nearly 30 percent.
“We strongly urge you to pursue a solution in conference that repeals the estate tax,” the lawmakers, including the initiator of the letter, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), wrote. “We are concerned about the current Senate plan, which falls short of the long-term Republican goal by providing only temporary relief while leaving the death tax in place.”
In the letter, the legislators referenced a Tax Foundation study determining repeal would create 159,000 new jobs and increase gross domestic product (GDP) by nearly one percent over a decade. The GDP increase and new jobs would generate enough revenue to nearly offset the loss of revenue from repeal.
“Many of us are continuing to hear from family businesses, farmers, and ranchers in our districts about the need for repeal – not only because of the harm a 40 percent tax at death causes but also because of their yearly compliance burden,” Davidson and his colleagues wrote. “We urge you to seek an agreement in conference that achieves repeal of the tax.”