WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.), Tom Cotton (Ark.) and John Boozman (Ark.) introduced the Estate Tax Rate Reduction Act, which would reduce the estate tax to 20 percent, the same as the current capital gains tax rate.

“The current estate tax is often a crushing blow to family businesses and farmers who are trying to plan for the future,” said Blunt. “This legislation will bring relief to family farms and businesses as they transition from one generation to the next.”

“Families shouldn’t have to sell major portions of their businesses or farms after the death of a parent just to afford the 40% estate tax. Breaking apart a family’s livelihood is neither fair or good for the economy, especially since families are often forced to sell to large corporations. My legislation would cut that rate in half, bringing the rate in line with the current capital gains rate and making it much easier to preserve a family’s legacy and way of life,” said Cotton.

“Punishing years of hard work and investment, as the estate tax does, has never been fair or reasonable to family farmers and small business owners in Arkansas who rightly view it as a real threat to passing their businesses and assets on to the next generation,” Boozman said. “Reducing the rate of the estate tax is another step in the right direction and builds on previous efforts to reduce this burden for families.”