Sen. Jeff Sessions Legislation Repeals the Death Tax January 1, 2005

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Al) introduced legislation to immediately repeal the onerous Death Tax, effective January 1, 2005. The Jobs Protection and Estate Tax Reform Act of 2005 already has 23 cosponsors in the United States Senate and Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) has pledged to work to increase the number of cosponsors and help pass this critical legislation.

“It\\\’s time to end the punitive taxation of those who have died," said taxpayer advocate Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform. “In the name of class warfare, this tax destroys small businesses, forces the sale of family farms, and deprives the economy of long term investment. Yet Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer would seem to prefer to keep the tax as a symbol of class warfare, than to end this burden on American families.”

President Bush\\\’s 2001 tax cut, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA), the phased out the Death Tax over several years. However, due to obscure Senate rules, the tax is scheduled to reappear suddenly, with all its destructive weight, in 2011. To prevent that reappearance, Congress must pass a second law to make the repeal permanent.

Current debate has been focused on just making Death Tax abolition permanent starting in 2011. However, the new bill introduced by Sessions refocuses the debate back to the urgent need to repeal the Death Tax immediately, starting January 1, 2005. This will prevent millions of families which are dying over the next four years from having to sell their family businesses in order to pay the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

“If the Death Tax is so onerous that it should be repealed in 2011, then it is so onerous it should be repealed immediately,” continued Norquist. “Today we pay taxes when we earn our paychecks, when we save, when we invest, when we buy products and services and when we are foolish enough to die, the government wants half of what is left. Congress needs to end this practice of taxing Death and they need to end this practice now.”