Yes, we can.

Alex · 10-27-2008, 01:45 PM

Here's a decent comparison of McCain and Obama's Estate Tax proposals.

If you're opposed philosophically to an estate tax at all then you won't be happy with either because they both support continuing them.

Obama at the current 45% rate with a $7 million exemption (currently it is $3.5 million).

McCain at 15% with a $10 million exemption.

Those sounds hugely different to me but per the articles figures I didn't see a big difference in impact on small businesses. Small businesses are the bugaboo of estate taxes since heirs potentially have to sell or close the business to afford or avoid the taxes, creating economic collateral damage.

However, under either plan there would only be a couple hundred impacted business each year (and even under the current "horrible" situation it is less than 500 a year).

So, neither candidate agrees with you on principal in opposing any estate tax at all (and the article makes a good point about why abolishment altogether isn't necessarily a great thing for heirs either) and the individual impacts are hugely different and the revenue impacts are significantly different (McCain maybe saves another 50-100 business over Obama but loses the government about $40B in current revenue due to his significantly lower rate).

10-27-2008, 01:45 PM	#10
Alex . Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 13,354	Here's a decent comparison of McCain and Obama's Estate Tax proposals. If you're opposed philosophically to an estate tax at all then you won't be happy with either because they both support continuing them. Obama at the current 45% rate with a $7 million exemption (currently it is $3.5 million). McCain at 15% with a $10 million exemption. Those sounds hugely different to me but per the articles figures I didn't see a big difference in impact on small businesses. Small businesses are the bugaboo of estate taxes since heirs potentially have to sell or close the business to afford or avoid the taxes, creating economic collateral damage. However, under either plan there would only be a couple hundred impacted business each year (and even under the current "horrible" situation it is less than 500 a year). So, neither candidate agrees with you on principal in opposing any estate tax at all (and the article makes a good point about why abolishment altogether isn't necessarily a great thing for heirs either) and the individual impacts are hugely different and the revenue impacts are significantly different (McCain maybe saves another 50-100 business over Obama but loses the government about $40B in current revenue due to his significantly lower rate).
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