Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced two new pieces of legislation, including a bill to restore the corporate tax rate to its pre-Trump levels. The second bill, the “For the 99.5 Percent Act,” is a reform of the federal estate tax, our nation’s only levy on the inherited wealth of multi-millionaires and billionaires.
This estate tax reform is important for several reasons. It institutes a graduated rate structure, so that the wealthiest billionaires pay at a higher rate. Under current law, a rich person with $25 million will pay the same estate tax rate as an oligarch with $25 billion. Sanders proposes a 65 percent top tax rate on estates over $1 billion, a restoration of the highest rate that existed between 1942 and 1976.
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