09/20/2007
Small-business owners from around the country gathered Wednesday at the annual Death-Tax Summit in Washington, D.C., to call for the permanent repeal of the death tax.
The death tax is one of the most destructive taxes small-business owners face, and it creates a disincentive to expand a business, create jobs, and often taxes family businesses right out of the family. Instead of hiring new employees and growing the business, the death tax forces small-business owners to pay for expensive estate planning simply to be able to keep the business in their family after their death.
While Congress has passed temporary relief from this unfair tax, it returns at its full 55 percent rate in 2011. President Bush has repeatedly called on Congress to act in the interest of the No. 1 job creator--small business--but to no avail. The elimination of the death tax is crucial to the survival of the small-business community, and we encouraged our members to make their voices heard alongside hundreds of others in the nation's capitol.
Participants in the death-tax summit heard from several pro-small-business lawmakers at a luncheon, including U.S. Sens. Jon Kyl (Ariz.) and Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), and U.S. Reps. Harry Mitchell (Ariz.) and Kenny Hulshof (Mo.). Attendees also met with their lawmakers while they were in town to discuss face-to-face how the death tax has hurt their ability to grow their business.
