Suppose you have been privileged enough to amass significant wealth in your lifetime. In that case, you have an ethical obligation to the less fortunate members of your society, and most working-class Americans would agree. The same is true if millions of dollars in your estate are left to your beneficiaries, which defines the estate tax. 

There is no reason why the estate tax has to be repealed in Washington. Washington is among the few states that still levies an estate tax, and it has the highest estate tax in the country, but there is a good reason for it. 

In lobbying against the estate tax policy, a common argument is that it has significant negative impacts on small family-owned businesses. Still, most people don’t know that it only affects those whose valuation exceeds $2 million. The vast majority, over 99.9%, will not pay any estate tax. This is an excellent tool to level the disparity between the rich and the poor, and to help maintain the mobility between classes.  

I have always considered the subject of estate tax to be an invitation for a discussion about politics. Conservatives have typically implied misleadingly that every American has to pay the tax after their death, infamously calling it the “death tax.” However, even a tiny amount of research into the policy can clarify how frivolous their argument is. 

The primary purpose of the estate tax when it was created over a century ago was to collect revenue from those who have the greatest ability to contribute and to encourage charitable donations while diffusing the concentration of wealth and power. It acts as a checks-and-balance system since massive family fortunes passed down from one generation to another only led to the abominable rise of the American aristocracy. 

It is no surprise that the top 1% have infinite ways of evading their fair share of taxes, and significant portions of the incomes of the wealthy are not taxed at all. A perfect example would be Sheldon Adelson, a casino magnate, who exploited a loophole that allowed him to pass $8 billion to a family member and avoid around $3 billion in taxes. Removing the estate tax would be counterintuitive, given this example, and the correct course would be to strengthen the tax policy and alleviate these loopholes.

Another significant benefit of the estate tax is its assistance to combat Washington’s regressive tax system, which brings in a more significant portion of the income from lower-income earners than the high-earners. The estate taxes signify the efforts being taken to decrease the load on the middle and lower classes. As it affects only those who can pay, I believe the estate tax is, in fact, the most progressive part of the tax code. 

Its repeal would cost the state billions of dollars, which would cause sacrifices to be made by the lower class. It would eliminate the state's most effective tax policy tool to mitigate the negative effects of massive inheritances that would otherwise contribute to inequality.