Harris' death tax reform could impact more than just the ultra-wealthy, experts say

Under former President Donald Trump's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), the federal estate tax - often referred to as the death tax - can only apply to estates passed on to heirs valued over $13.61 million. 

If that exemption threshold were to expire or lapse, as Vice President Kamala Harris has signaled she would allow if she becomes president, some experts say it could impact more than just the ultra-wealthy.

"It creates monopolies," one conservative economist said. 

"It's going to impact a lot of our clients," a New Jersey estate planning attorney insisted. 

"The exemption is meant to reduce the double taxation of income," another economist said. "In a way, it's like the capital gains tax, where people are like, 'Oh, it's to [tax] privileged capital.' No, it's actually to reduce the double taxation of income."

The Harris campaign told The New York Times in August that the vice president supports President Biden's proposed tax increases laid out in the most recent federal budget plan put together by his administration, which would reduce the threshold at which the death tax kicks in from roughly $13 million to around $5 million. 

Meanwhile, Harris reportedly endorsed the death tax reforms outlined in the American Housing and Economic Mobility Act of 2024, which would reduce the threshold even further to $3.5 million. While running for the presidency in 2019, Harris wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post that raising the estate tax was a solution to poor teacher wages.