Rich Americans pay only about 2 percent on inherited fortunes, less than one-seventh the average tax rate on income from work and savings.The top income tax rate these days is 37 percent, but as ProPublica revealed in a bombshell report this week, megawealthy fellows like Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, Warren Buffet, Carl Icahn, and Elon Musk pay a few percent at most. Thats a lot cheaper than selling off chunks of stock, for example, and paying tax on the gains. That is, relative to other countries, financial success in the United States depends heavily on the circumstances of ones birth.It may seem odd, given the success of the superwealthy in legally avoiding inheritance taxes, that Americas dynasties seem so desperate to dispense with them. Pair that strategy with highly volatile stocks, as Adelson reportedly did, and you wont always win, but you literally cannot lose. According to a 2013 report by Bloombergs Zachary Mider, the late billionaire and Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson used a series of short-term Walton GRATs to transfer nearly $8 billion to his heirs, thereby avoiding billions of dollars in gift taxes.
Led by a billionaire, himself, the federal government jumped into the “60 degrees” tax campaign.
( z0 jump :ARG0 ( z1 government-organization :ARG0-of ( z2 govern ) :ARG1-of ( z3 lead :ARG0 ( z4 billionaire ) ) :mod ( z5 federal ) ) :ARG2 ( z6 campaign :ARG1 ( z7 tax ) :mod ( z8 temperature-quantity :quant 60 :unit ( z9 degree ) ) ) )
(z0 / jump-03
    :ARG0 (z1 / government-organization
              :ARG0-of (z2 / govern-01)
              :ARG1-of (z3 / lead-02
                           :ARG0 (z4 / billionaire))
              :mod (z5 / federal))
    :ARG2 (z6 / campaign-01
              :ARG1 (z7 / tax-01)
              :mod (z8 / temperature-quantity
                       :quant 60
                       :unit (z9 / degree))))
Led by a billionaire , himself , the federal government jumped into the " 60 degrees” tax campaign .
z3 :ARG0 z4
z1 :mod z5
z1 :ARG1-of z3
z1 :ARG0-of z2
z0 :ARG0 z1
z8 :quant 0
z8 :unit z9
z6 :ARG1 z7
z6 :mod z8
z0 :ARG2 z6