Death and Taxes

Today, I signed the Federal Estate Tax Repeal Pledge sent to me by the Family Business Coalition. There is a lot of debate about the pros and cons of Federal Estate Tax, namely, if repealing it accomplishes the ultimate goal of “fairness”. But, there are two compelling reasons I signed on to the pledge:

1. I have witnessed, first-hand, the negative effects that the Federal Estate Tax has on people who worked very hard and tried to do the right things for their family.

2. Though I think that repealing the Federal Estate tax in isolation accomplishes only a small part of what needs to be done to the tax code, I am hopeful that momentum gained from a popular effort like this might encourage a holistic tax code review and revision.

Here’s hoping. It’s possible.