Blogs Derek's Tax Blog Love of EGTRRA
I got a chuckle today well looking for news on the vote in the house to permanently extend the current estate tax exemption. Thank you to Hani Sarji and his Three Point Five - 45 blog. As you might guess from the title of his blog, he has an interest in estate tax law. However, I didn't know how deep this interest went until I read his post from Tuesday on the the EGTRRA experience where he professed his love for EGTRRA! He included the following illustration showing how Love and Tax Law intersect with EGTRRA.
I took up his challenge. What are my "feelings" toward EGTRRA? The first word I thought of was "Anxiety", not love.
However, when I think a bit deeper about it, I realize that my interest in tax policy mostly stems from the estate tax. At its core I believe the estate tax is about redistribution of wealth. (As illustrated in this article by Bill Gates Sr. and Chuck Collins.) Some will claim, including Mr. Gates in his article, that it is about producing tax revenue, but if that was the case it would be more inclusive than the top .2% - 1% of estates.
To me tax policy is a battle between those who believe the tax code should be used to most efficiently raise the revenue needed to run the government and those who believe it can do more than just raising revenue, it can influence behavior, create social justice, and improve society. This is the estate tax debate. The estate tax and by extension tax policy has been in the news cycle every year since EGTRRA was enacted. However, it was debated before EGTRRA and once Congress eventually cleans up the mess the EGTRRA created the estate tax will still be debated. That is why there is no such thing as a "Permanent Estate Tax".