Maine Democrats move to repeal estate tax breaks for wealthy

Democratic members of the legislature’s Tax Committee voted last week to advance a bill that would lower the threshold for the state’s estate tax in a move advocates hope will restore a measure of fairness to the Maine tax code.

Over the course of his administration, former Governor Paul LePage raised the estate tax threshold, which he referred to as the “death tax,” from $1 million to $5.6 million for individuals or $11.2 million for joint estates of married couples. During the June 6 work session, lawmakers were considering two bills, LD 518 and LD 420, which would undo LePage’s cut and lower the exclusion amount to $1 million and $2 million, respectively.

Kicking off the discussion, committee chair Rep. Ryan Tipping (D-Orono) explained that the estate tax was conceived early in the history of America to “allow for social upward mobility” and to “make sure we don’t end up having an oligarchy that can continue to stay in power just because they amassed wealth through different generations.”

TIpping also read to the group a statement from Michael Lambert, a former shipbuilder who married a member of the wealthy Rockefeller family and who took part in a tax fairness rally that same day. Lambert quoted his late father-in-law, Dr. Richard Rockefeller, who said he supported the estate tax because he didn’t look at his children’s inheritance as a “purely material thing.”

Read more: https://mainebeacon.com/maine-democrats-move-to-repeal-estate-tax-breaks-for-wealthy/