Frank Luntz Quotes

In six short years, small business owners and family farmers will once again be assessed a tax on the value of their property at the time of their death, despite having paid taxes throughout their lifetime.

The estate tax punishes years of hard work and robs families of part of their heritage by imposing a huge penalty on inheritance after death - a tax on money that has already been taxed.

I hope that the Senate acts quickly to pass this legislation so that Americans will no longer worry about having to sell the family farm or business to pay taxes after the death of a loved one.

But we need to quit taxing people upon death. No taxation without respiration.

It's time we permanently repeal the tax on possessions that people leave to their children.

Death just shouldn't be a taxable event.

I don't want to get into the 'who's a hostage-taker' discussion here, but what is the estate tax? It's a double tax on death. Economists will tell you that it's really not a tax that soaks the rich, but it's a tax on capital that deprives business investment and therefore job creation.

Only in Washington would death be considered a taxable event.

Dying should not be a taxable event.

The death tax punishes the American dream - making it virtually impossible for the average American family to build wealth across generations.

An increase in the State inheritance tax, steeply graduated and applying to all property in the State regardless of where the owner may reside.

We do not believe that death should be a taxable event.

Many countries, even socialist Sweden and former communist Russia, have done away with their death taxes. They found the confiscation of wealth at death to be counterproductive.

Death should not be a taxable event.

Now they got such a high inheritance tax on 'em that you won't catch these old rich boys dying promiscuously like they did. This bill makes patriots out of everybody. You sure do die for your country if you die from now on.

Death and taxes may be inevitable, but they shouldn't be related.

Death is the most convenient time to tax rich people.

The death tax destroys family businesses and stifles investment that leads to increases in jobs and personal income. As a result, 70 percent of family-owned businesses are not passed on to the next generation and 87 percent do not make it to the third generation.

The bottom line is that the death tax is a tax on the economy because it slows economic growth.

Unfortunately, actions taken by the Senate ensured that relief from the death tax would only be temporary and that it would come back to life at the full rate again in 2011.

Currently, not only are Americans taxed on what they earn, but those assets are taxed again when they are passed on to a loved one.

If we don't act now, the death tax will come back in just a few years. Under current law the death tax is phased out in 2010 but comes back in full force in 2011. That is a ridiculous and untenable policy.

Additionally, this tax forces family businesses to invest in Uncle Sam rather than the economy. When families are forced to repurchase businesses because of the death tax, that means less money is being invested in new jobs and capital expansion.

With my support, the House of Representatives recently voted to permanently repeal the death tax so that family farms and businesses can be passed down to children and grandchildren.

The American people are not just being taxed to death; they're being taxed after death. But, no one should have to sell the life's work of a parent or a loved one just to pay the federal government.