New push to repeal ‘unjust’ estate tax

Kevin Kester
Kevin Kester of Bear Valley Ranch talks to Fox News on the “death tax.”

Liberals often bemoan the demise of the family ranch and farm, then turn around and put together policies to hasten it’s death. The best example is the federal estate tax which is set to skyrocket on Jan. 1, 2013, with the expiration of the Bush tax cuts.

The estate tax is currently levied at 35 percent on inherited property with a $5 million exemption. If nothing is done, the rate will will increase to 55 percent as the exemption drops to $1 million. This is a death knell to typically land rich, cash poor enterprises like farming and ranching.

“There is no way financially my kids can pay what the IRS is going to demand from them nine months after death and keep this ranch intact for their generation and future generations,” said Kevin Kester to William LaJeunesse of Fox News. Kester owns and works the 22,000 acre Bear Valley Ranch in Central California.

According to LaJeunesse at Fox,

Kester works dawn to dusk, drives a 12-year-old pick-up truck and earns less than a typical bureaucrat in Washington D.C., yet the federal government considers him rich.

“Our number one goal is to repeal the estate tax, to get rid of it, not have it for every generation, when I die and my kids die and so on,” he told Fox News. “For everyone to have to re-purchase the ranch or farm over and over for each generation, that’s inherently unjust. So what we’re doing is asking our politicians to understand that and repeal the estate tax.”

LaJeunesse concludes, “Ironically, many nations historically more concerned with class and wealth — namely Russia and China — have since abandoned their estate taxes.” Perhaps it’s time we did too.

Read more at Fox News.

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