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GOP Lawmakers Call for Full Estate Tax Repeal in Tax Package

DEC. 7, 2017

GOP Lawmakers Call for Full Estate Tax Repeal in Tax Package

DATED DEC. 7, 2017
DOCUMENT ATTRIBUTES
  • Authors
    Davidson, Rep. Warren
    Banks, Rep. Jim
    Franks, Trent
    Gosar, Rep. Paul A.
    Mooney, Rep. Alexander X.
    King, Steve
    Yoho, Ted S.
    Perry, Rep. Scott
    Biggs, Rep. Andy
    Latta, Rep. Robert E.
    Gibbs, Rep. Bob
    Walker, Mark
    Lamborn, Rep. Doug
    Goodlatte, Bob
    Messer, Luke
    Cheney, Rep. Liz
    Rooney, Thomas J.
    Valadao, Rep. David G.
    Thompson, Rep. Glenn
    Joyce, Rep. David P.
    Norman, Rep. Ralph
    Hice, Rep. Jody B.
    LaMalfa, Rep. Doug
    Graves, Rep. Sam
    Roe, David P.
    Bilirakis, Rep. Gus M.
    Russell, Steve
    Abraham, Ralph Lee
    Dunn, Rep. Neal P.
    Babin, Rep. Brian
    Johnson, Rep. Mike
    Graves, Rep. Garret
    Chabot, Rep. Steve
    LaHood, Rep. Darin
    Duncan, Rep. Jeff
    Williams, Rep. Roger
    Marshall, Sen. Roger W.
    Pearce, Stevan
    Culberson, John Abney
    Farenthold, Blake
    Kelly, Rep. Trent
    Meadows, Mark
    Hurd, Will
    Bergman, Rep. Jack
    Budd, Sen. Theodore Paul
    Gohmert, Rep. Louie
    Sensenbrenner, F. James, Jr.
    Barletta, Lou
    Rokita, Todd
    DesJarlais, Rep. Scott
    Stewart, Rep. Chris
    Barton, Joe
    Smith, Rep. Jason
    Harris, Rep. Andy
  • Institutional Authors
    U.S. House of Representatives
  • Subject Area/Tax Topics
  • Jurisdictions
  • Tax Analysts Document Number
    2017-99450
  • Tax Analysts Electronic Citation
    2017 TNT 236-41

December 7, 2017

The Honorable Paul Ryan
Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives
H-232, U.S. Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Kevin Brady
Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means
1102 Longworth HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515

CC: Majority Leader McCarthy and Majority Whip Steve Scalise

Dear Speaker Ryan and Chairman Brady:

Thank you for helping House Republicans keep our promise to repeal the death tax in the Cuts and Jobs Act passed by this body. Full repeal of the death tax has been a conservative priority for nearly 40 years and Republicans are closer than ever to finally killing the death tax once and for all. Repeal of the death tax is also overwhelmingly supported by the public; an April 2017 NPR/Ipsos poll found 76 percent of respondents favor abolishing the tax.

Support for repeal among House Republicans is unanimous. Congresswoman Noem's Death Tax Repeal Act currently has over 100 cosponsors in the House and Chairman Brady's Death Tax Repeal Act passed the House 240-179 on a bipartisan basis in April of 2015. Calls for repeal were so strong from the Freedom Caucus, the Tuesday group, and rank and file Republicans that the House went through the process of regular order to pass Chairman Brady's legislation as a stand alone measure.

Given this overwhelming support, we strongly urge you to pursue a solution in conference that repeals the estate tax. We are concerned about the current Senate plan, which falls short of the long term Republican goal by providing only temporary relief while leaving the death tax in place. The Senate's temporary policy would provide no certainty to business owners planning for succession and do nothing to cut down on expensive estate planning costs associated with the death tax.

The Republican majority was largely elected because of a movement across America to move to sounder fiscal policy and reform our ailing tax code. A vote to repeal the estate tax would accomplish both of those things. A study by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation shows that repeal would create 159,000 new jobs and increase GDP by nearly one percent over a decade. This increase in GDP and new jobs would bring in enough revenue to nearly offset the loss of revenue from repeal.

The temporary Senate policy is out of step with the President, the House, and the tax reform joint framework released in September. Many of us are continuing to hear from family businesses, farmers, and ranchers in our districts about the need for repeal — not only because of the harm a 40 percent tax at death causes, but also because of their yearly compliance burden.

We urge you to seek an agreement in conference that achieves repeal of the hated and economically destructive death tax. We look forward to working with you to pass tax reform that simplifies the tax code, lowers taxes on middle class families, and kills the death tax once and for all.

Sincerely,

Warren Davidson
Member of Congress

Trent Franks
Member of Congress

Alexander Mooney
Member of Congress

Ted Yoho
Member of Congress

Andy Biggs
Member of Congress

Bob Gibbs
Member of Congress

Jim Banks
Member of Congress

Paul A Gosar, D.D.S.
Member of Congress

Steve King
Member of Congress

Scott Perry
Member of Congress

Bob Latta
Member of Congress

Mark Walker
Member of Congress

Doug Lamborn
Member of Congress

Luke Messer
Member of Congress

Thomas J. Rooney
Member of Congress

Glenn 'GT' Thompson
Member of Congress

Ralph Norman
Member of Congress

Doug LaMalfa
Member of Congress

David P. Roe, M.D.
Member of Congress

Steve Russell
Member of Congress

Neal Dunn
Member of Congress

Bob Goodlatte
Member of Congress

Liz Cheney
Member of Congress

David G. Valadao
Member of Congress

David Joyce
Member of Congress

Jody Hice
Member of Congress

Sam Graves
Member of Congress

Gus Bilirakis
Member of Congress

Ralph Abraham, M.D.
Member of Congress

Brian Babin
Member of Congress

Mike Johnson
Member of Congress

Steve Chabot
Member of Congress

Jeff Duncan
Member of Congress

Roger Marshall
Member of Congress

Johns Culberson
Member of Congress

Trent Kelly
Member of Congress

Will Hurd
Member of Congress

Ted Budd
Member of Congress

F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr.
Member of Congress

Garret Graves
Member of Congress

Darin LaHood
Member of Congress

Roger Williams
Member of Congress

Steve Pearce
Member of Congress

Blake Farenthold
Member of Congress

Mark Meadows
Member of Congress

Jack Bergman
Member of Congress

Louie Gohmert
Member of Congress

Lou Barletta
Member of Congress

Todd Rokita
Member of Congress

Chris Stewart
Member of Congress

Jason Smith
Member of Congress

Scott DesJarlais
Member of Congress

Joe Barton
Member of Congress

Andy Harris
Member of Congress

DOCUMENT ATTRIBUTES
  • Authors
    Davidson, Rep. Warren
    Banks, Rep. Jim
    Franks, Trent
    Gosar, Rep. Paul A.
    Mooney, Rep. Alexander X.
    King, Steve
    Yoho, Ted S.
    Perry, Rep. Scott
    Biggs, Rep. Andy
    Latta, Rep. Robert E.
    Gibbs, Rep. Bob
    Walker, Mark
    Lamborn, Rep. Doug
    Goodlatte, Bob
    Messer, Luke
    Cheney, Rep. Liz
    Rooney, Thomas J.
    Valadao, Rep. David G.
    Thompson, Rep. Glenn
    Joyce, Rep. David P.
    Norman, Rep. Ralph
    Hice, Rep. Jody B.
    LaMalfa, Rep. Doug
    Graves, Rep. Sam
    Roe, David P.
    Bilirakis, Rep. Gus M.
    Russell, Steve
    Abraham, Ralph Lee
    Dunn, Rep. Neal P.
    Babin, Rep. Brian
    Johnson, Rep. Mike
    Graves, Rep. Garret
    Chabot, Rep. Steve
    LaHood, Rep. Darin
    Duncan, Rep. Jeff
    Williams, Rep. Roger
    Marshall, Sen. Roger W.
    Pearce, Stevan
    Culberson, John Abney
    Farenthold, Blake
    Kelly, Rep. Trent
    Meadows, Mark
    Hurd, Will
    Bergman, Rep. Jack
    Budd, Sen. Theodore Paul
    Gohmert, Rep. Louie
    Sensenbrenner, F. James, Jr.
    Barletta, Lou
    Rokita, Todd
    DesJarlais, Rep. Scott
    Stewart, Rep. Chris
    Barton, Joe
    Smith, Rep. Jason
    Harris, Rep. Andy
  • Institutional Authors
    U.S. House of Representatives
  • Subject Area/Tax Topics
  • Jurisdictions
  • Tax Analysts Document Number
    2017-99450
  • Tax Analysts Electronic Citation
    2017 TNT 236-41
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