Baltimore Sun

Freeze the estate tax

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The Sun got it right in its December 10 editorial (“The forgotten tax cut”). Tax breaks for the scions of multi-millionair­es will not create jobs, nor help average, hardworkin­g Maryland families. But they would take tens of millions of dollars away from public investment in schools, hospitals, safe communitie­s and other building blocks of a strong economy.

The fact is that middle-class Marylander­s were never subject to the state’s estate tax. Even before changes in 2014, the tax only applied to the top 3 percent of estates. Further, no money or property that a surviving spouse inherits is subject to Maryland’s tax and several provisions exempt most family farms. By 2019, fewer than 250 estates — less than 1 percent — will owe estate tax in any given year.

It is a myththat the estate tax is responsibl­e for many people moving out of Maryland. Nationwide research shows that elderly people by far are more likely to move because of weather and family ties. Maryland continues to be home to the most millionair­es per household of any state and their number is growing.

At the very least, lawmakers should freeze the estate tax at its current level. Accelerate­d cuts will meanmoremo­neyforthe wealthiest at the expense of services for everyone else.

Benjamin Orr, Baltimore The writer is executive director of the Maryland Center on Economic Policy.

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