The inheritance tax, easily one of the most controversial and most fought-over of taxes will "disappear immediately" under President Donald Trump's tax plan, national economic director Gary Cohn told Newsmax on Wednesday afternoon.
Along with Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, Cohn spelled out the president's plan for economic growth and tax reduction for businesses and individuals at a White House press briefing.
For years, some opponents of the controversial tax have said they would agree to "phase it out" over a period of years rather than simply scrap it outright. James L. Martin, president of the 60 Plus Seniors Association and the leading critic of the so-called "death tax" for the past two decades, has rallied opponents to reject the 'phase out" in favor of immediate repeal.
Citing Martin's criterion, Newsmax asked Cohn whether the administration's plan to scrap the death tax immediately or phase it out.
"Right now, our initial proposal is to immediately — when this proposal becomes effective — to phase out the death tax," Cohn told us.
Asked for clarification as to what "phase it out" meant, the President's top economic adviser replied: "With the implementation of the new tax, the death tax would immediately disappear."
Now 101 years old, the federal inheritance tax was originally levied on the property of deceased Americans to fund the U.S. effort in World War I. Efforts to repeal it have been made since the 1940's — when the term "death tax" was first applied by opponents —and during former President George W. Bush's tenure, opponents came within four votes of breaking a Democratic-led Senate filibuster on a repeal bill.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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