Tax estates like ordinary income

To the editor:

U.S. Sen. Bill Frist's column on the estate tax left out a few facts your readers should know.

Only 1 percent of estates pay any tax at all, and even supporters of the repeal know that it is a myth that the family farm and small businesses have to be sold to pay the estate tax.

It is true that some medium-sized businesses have to be broken up, but remember that the heirs end up as millionaires.

Only estates of several million dollars pay heavy estate taxes, and, again, the heirs end up with several million dollars of money they did not earn.

The estate tax generates $65 billion to $75 billion for the IRS each year. We can guess who will be required to make up the difference in taxes and deficits for a tax cut for the richest of Americans.

Is it too much to ask the very rich for a minor sacrifice in a time of deficits and the war on terrorism?

The fairest solution is to repeal the estate tax and require the heirs to pay taxes on inheritances just like any other income.

We all know that every dollar we make otherwise is taxed fully, so why do we want to protect the passive income of the very rich?

Remember that the death-tax repeal can just as easily be called the Paris Hilton Benefit Act.

RICHARD N. MITCHELL, Jackson