Some of you may have heard that Bernie Sanders thinks inequality is a big problem.

You may also have heard that he outraised Hillary Clinton in the first quarter of 2016 by a substantial amount, and that he swept the primaries/caucuses in several western states last week.

One part of his tax platform is to install an estate tax that would tax all estates worth more than $3.5 million at a 65% rate. By contrast, today estates worth more than $5.45 million are taxed at a 40% rate. It's important to understand that only the amount of wealth above those thresholds is taxexd at those rates under both Sanders's plan and the current regime.

Sanders would not remove portability, so for those of you who are married, even under the Sanders plan you would be able to pass along a maximum of $7 million tax free.

Although $3.5 million per person is a substantially smaller figure than the $5.45 million per person unified credit we enjoy today, it was as low as $3.5 million in 2009 and dropped to $1 mllion in 2011.

Forbes has a good article on this subject we have linked to here.

If you have questions about the potential gift, estate, or income tax consequences at stake in the upcoming election, please feel free to give us a call.