Billionaire president Donald Trump is desperate to get his tax plans through the US Senate.
No wonder. Trump wants to abolish the estate tax paid when you die. It is currently paid only on estates worth at least $5.5 million – or $11 million in the case of a couple.
It is charged at just 40% on net worth above that. And because of a multimillion-dollar exemption, the average paid is only about 17%.
Steven Mnuchin is Trump’s treasury secretary. Commenting on Trump’s efforts to repeal it, he bluntly admitted last month: “Obviously, the estate tax, I will concede, disproportionately helps rich people.”
Too right.