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Biden’s New Death Tax Would Tax Millions Who Are Currently Exempt From Estate Taxes
SEPTEMBER 08, 2021
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The Biden Budget Plan would subject millions of Americans to a new death tax. The Biden proposal is to implement a capital gains tax at death on previously untaxed appreciation of asset values during life. Taxpayers with net worth not remotely near the current $11.7 million estate tax exemption would be captured in the net of this new death tax.
The estate tax exemption, the tax-free portion of each individual’s net worth at death has been increased regularly for the past 20 years. With a current estate tax exemption of $11.7 million, very few estates pay death taxes.
Under the Biden Budget Plan, individuals with net worth of less than $1 million at death could be subject to a significant percentage of their net worth being consumed by this new tax.
This new death tax would only impact taxpayers owning appreciated assets at death. While the new death tax would subject some taxpayers with less than $1 million of net worth to a new tax, there would be millions of others with much greater net worth who would continue to pay no death taxes. The Biden Budget Plan essentially would implement a new death tax for many middle-income taxpayers.
The Biden Budget Plan provides for taxation of capital gains at death on unrealized capital gains after excluding unrealized gains of $250,000 on a taxpayer’s residence and excluding the first unrealized gains of $1 million. (Double for married couples.) The Biden Budget Plan also includes a proposal to increase the capital gains rate to 39.6 percent for capital gains in excess of $1 million without eliminating the existing 3.8 percent net investment income tax on investment income over $200,000.
Expected inheritances passed along by taxpayers at death could be crushed by the Biden Budget Plan. The Biden Budget Plan calculates capital gains taxes owed at death without consideration of existing debt.
A school teacher (Mom) who purchased her home in 1971 for $100,000 with the proceeds of her young husband’s life insurance policy has watched her home increase in value to $1.75 million over 50 years. Over those 50 years, she placed $950,000 of debt on her home to pay for her daughter’s college, her current and her daughter’s ongoing serious health issues, and other personal activities. Today, she lives in her home with her daughter; they survive financially on their combined pensions and disability insurance.
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