October 29, 2010: Representative: Some Constituents Choosing to Die Rather than Face ‘Death Tax’

US Representative Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) says some of her constituents are so worried about the upcoming reinstatement of federal estate taxes—so-called “death taxes” that impose taxes on estates worth over $3.5 million—that they are planning to discontinue dialysis and other life-extending medical treatments so they can die before December 31. Loomis declines to name anyone who is making such plans. Instead, she says many ranchers and farmers in the state would rather pass along their businesses—“their life’s work,” she says—to their children and grandchildren than see the federal government take a large chunk. “If you have spent your whole life building a ranch, and you wanted to pass your estate on to your children, and you were 88-years-old and on dialysis, and the only thing that was keeping you alive was that dialysis, you might make that same decision,” she tells reporters. Congressional Republicans are fighting to renew the tax cuts on wealthy estates which were implemented during the Bush administration. The cuts exempt large inheritances as well as certain wage income, interest, dividends, and capital gains. In 2009, the tax’s top rate was 45 percent, but estates worth less than $3.5 million, or $7 million in the case of married couples, were exempt. That left less than 1 percent of all estates subject to the tax. Loomis and many Republicans have falsely characterized the tax as negatively impacting family farms and small businesses. The tax cuts are slated to expire in 2011. The exemption will shrink to $1 million and the top rate will rise to 55 percent. Lummis says the children of some people choosing death over taxes told her of their parents’ decision. She refuses to identify them and says it will be their decision to come forward. [Associated Press, 10/29/2010]