“I’m trying to sound the alarm both economically and politically for Democrats.”
Today on CNBC’s SquawkBox, Democratic former North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp sent a warning to Democrats who are thinking about killing stepped-up basis. Taking away stepped-up basis — as President Biden has proposed — would impose a second Death Tax on the American people:
“I’m trying to sound the alarm both economically and politically for Democrats, that this is not a path to walk, which is taxing unrealized gain.
You can look at different strategies for stepped-up basis, for realizing some income tax when that asset is eventually sold, but the disruption that this would create for small family businesses and for farmers and for family assets is just not worth the pain. In fact, ironically when it’s polled, 70% of democrats agree with me that death should not be the taxable event.”