Latta kicks off 2017 estate tax fight

Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, has started the official fight in the 115th Congress to stamp out the federal estate tax by introducing H.R. 451, the Permanently Repeal the Estate Tax Act of 2017 bill.

The main section of the three-paragraph bill states that, “Effective for estates of decedents dying after December 31, 2016, Chapter 11 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is repealed.”

Latta introduced a similar bill, H.R. 725, in the 114th Congress.

The new bill has eight cosponsors.

Another, longer bill, H.R. 25, would replace the federal income tax, the federal estate tax, the federal gift tax and federal payroll taxes with a national sales tax. That bill has 35 cosponsors.

Federal law sets the federal estate tax at 40 percent, with an exemption of $5.45 million for 2016.