Wednesday, January 11, 2012
The Economy How Many Brussels Sprouts Can You Buy for $70K?
Posted by Jeff Woods on Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 1:09 PM
Conversely, wealthy heirs do much better under our Republican governor’s new tax plans. Surprise!
Let’s do the math: Cutting the grocery tax from 5.5 percent to 5.3 percent will cost the state treasury $18 million. That means savings of a whopping $2.84 this year for each of the state’s 6,346,105 citizens. On the other hand, raising the exemption to the state’s inheritance tax from $1 million to $1.25 million—as Haslam proposed—costs the state $14 million. That puts an extra $70,000 in the pockets of each of the roughly 200 heirs who would save money.
To review, that’s $18 million for 6.3 million people, and $14 million for 200 people. Of course, Republicans point out those 200 people are job creators. So we can all count on that $14 million trickling down and making all of our lives better and better.
Update: To anti-tax organizations, Haslam's proposal isn't nearly good enough. Death to the death tax! they cry. From the presser from the American Family Business Institute, Americans for Tax Reform, Americans for Prosperity, National Taxpayers Union, and the Beacon Center of Tennessee:
“Governor Haslam is right; the Tennessee death tax is a job killer that chases family businesses away from the state. However, even with an increased exemption Tennessee will still be at a competitive disadvantage to States like Florida that do not have death taxes. While we applaud the Governor for taking a step in the right direction to make estate tax reform a priority, we urge him and the legislature to completely repeal the tax rather than raise the exemption.”
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