[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 160 (Tuesday, December 7, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H8037]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               DEATH TAX

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson) for 2 minutes.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, last week the Democrats 
brought back the death tax.
  This calendar year, there has been no estate tax, and I guess in some 
ways it was the year to die. But on January 1, because of the actions 
of the House Democrats, the death tax roars back at a rate of 55 
percent after the first $1 million. Now that means that your heirs pay 
nothing on the first million dollars that you leave them, but they pay 
55 percent tax on every dollar beyond that.
  I talked to a constituent recently who says just during his lifetime, 
he and his family had bought the family business back from the 
government three times, every time a generation passed away. In other 
words, the heirs have had to essentially buy back that family business 
over and over again.
  Now, a million dollars sounds like a lot of money to most of us, but 
when you are talking about acreage or buildings, equipment, homes, 
inventory, even livestock if you are talking about a family farm, it 
isn't hard to exceed the first exemption. Small businesses can easily 
be punished by this tax.
  Why is it fair to essentially ask people to buy back a large portion 
of their family farms or businesses on which they already pay taxes? 
Ask the Democrats.

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