[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 56 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 56

 To repeal the Federal estate and gift taxes and the tax on generation-
                          skipping transfers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 19, 1999

    Mr. Kyl  (for himself, Mr. Allard, Mr. Ashcroft, Mr. Burns, Mr. 
Cochran, Mr. Coverdell, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Enzi, Mr. Gramm, Mr. Grams, Mr. 
Hagel, Mr. Helms, Mrs. Hutchison, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Mack, Mr. Murkowski, 
Mr. Roberts, Mr. Smith of New Hampshire, Mr. Sessions, and Mr. Thomas) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                          Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To repeal the Federal estate and gift taxes and the tax on generation-
                          skipping transfers.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Family Heritage Preservation Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that:
            (1) Hard working American men and women spend a lifetime 
        saving to provide for their children and grandchildren, paying 
        taxes all the while. Throughout their lives, they pay taxes on 
        the income and gains from their labor and their investment. 
        Because of the heavy burden of income taxes, property taxes, 
        and other levies, it is enormously difficult to accumulate 
        savings for a family's future. Worst of all, when the purpose 
        of that hard earned savings is about to be achieved, families 
        discover that between 37 percent and 55 percent of their after-
        tax savings is confiscated by Federal estate taxes.
            (2) These transfer, estate, and gift taxes punish lifelong 
        habits of thrift; they discourage entrepreneurship; they 
        penalize families; and they have a negative effect on other tax 
        revenue sources.
            (3) These taxes raise almost no material revenue for the 
        Federal Government. In fiscal year 1998, they produced less 
        than 1 percent of total Federal revenues.
            (4) The waste and economic inefficiency caused by estate 
        taxes is well known. American families employ legions of tax 
        accountants and lawyers each year to set up trust and other 
        prolix devices designed to avoid these onerous levies. The 
        make-work imposed upon the economy comprises billions of 
        dollars.
            (5) In order to pay these excessive taxes, many small 
        businesses must liquidate all or part of their assets. By 
        causing business closures, these taxes constrict business 
        activity, increase unemployment, and reduce tax revenue to the 
        Federal Government.
            (6) Independent analyses indicate that, were these onerous 
        taxes repealed, the Nation's Gross Domestic Product, Federal 
        and State tax revenues, employment base, and capital formation 
        would increase substantially. According to a December 1998 
        study by the Joint Economic Committee, these taxes have reduced 
        the stock of capital in the United States by $497,000,000,000 
        reduced annual Federal income tax receipts by $20,000,000,000 
        and caused family businesses to divert resources from 
        investment and to develop environmentally sensitive land.
            (7) Repealing these taxes will ensure economic fairness for 
        all American families and businesses, as well as economic 
        growth and prosperity for the Nation as a whole.

SEC. 3. REPEAL OF FEDERAL TRANSFER TAXES.

    (a) General Rule.--Subtitle B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
(relating to estate, gift, and generation-skipping taxes) is hereby 
repealed.
    (b) Effective Date.--The repeal make by subsection (a) shall apply 
to the estates of decedents dying, and gifts and generation-skipping 
transfers made, after the date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>