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"<nav><br /><br />The Amazon tax is estimated to bring in more than $200 million in additional annual tax revenue to the state, an amount that is likely to grow. This provides a perfect opportunity to repeal Illinois&rsquo; death tax to offset the new revenue growth.<br /><br /></nav><br /><br />The additional tax revenue Illinois will take in from the Amazon tax should be offset by repealing the state&rsquo;s most obvious driver of out-migration: the death tax.<br /><br />Americans consider the death tax to be the single most unfair tax, and nearly&nbsp;<a href=\"http://taxfoundation.org/blog/poll-questions-estate-tax\">70 percent of Americans</a>&nbsp;polled by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation believe it should be repealed nationally. As the saying goes, &ldquo;You shouldn&rsquo;t have to visit the undertaker and the tax man on the same day.&rdquo;<br /><br />Not only is the death tax unpopular, but it also is extremely harmful to an economy. The Tax Foundation estimated that the death tax&nbsp;<a href=\"http://taxfoundation.org/article/raising-revenue-least-worst-options\">costs the U.S.</a>&nbsp;five times more in GDP than it collects in tax revenue each year. That&rsquo;s because the death tax shrinks the country&rsquo;s investment stock, which drives down worker wages and GDP growth. It&rsquo;s hard to imagine a more callous and harmful way to levy a tax.<br /><br />At the state level, the effects of the death tax are likely much more harmful to economic growth. A state&rsquo;s death tax can be easily avoided by moving residency and wealth to a state that doesn&rsquo;t levy such a tax. Only 18 states impose some form of death tax, with Indiana, Ohio, and North Carolina having repealed theirs in the last few years. Full repeal of Tennessee&rsquo;s death tax will be complete by 2016, meaning that Kentucky will be the southern-most state to impose the harmful tax.<br /><br />In addition, Maine has proposed repealing its death tax, while New York, Minnesota and Maryland plan to significantly reduce theirs.<br /><br />Illinois&rsquo;&nbsp;<a href=\"http://www.ilga.gov/commission/lru/2014taxhandbook.pdf\">2014 Tax Handbook for Legislators</a>&nbsp;implicitly admits that the death tax is a driver of out-migration. The handbook says that local Illinois home-rule units could impose inheritance taxes if they choose, but the taxes &ldquo;might be avoided by moving outside the unit imposing them before death.&rdquo; The exact same logic holds true at the state level.<br /><br />Illinois&rsquo; death tax is a major driver of wealth from the state. As wealthy Baby Boomers head for retirement, Illinois gives them every reason to move to a state with a warmer climate and no death tax. In fact, an Illinois Policy Institute&nbsp;<a href=\"https://d2dv7hze646xr.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Moody_out_migration1.pdf\">migration study</a>&nbsp;found that &ldquo;The most significant driver of out-migration, on a percentage basis, is the estate tax.&rdquo;<br /><br />Data from moving companies&nbsp;<a href=\"http://www.illinoispolicy.org/illinois-had-record-mass-exodus-in-2014/\">United Van Lines and Atlas Van Lines</a>, which are primarily movers for businesses, military, and wealthy families, show that Illinois consistently has one of the nation&rsquo;s highest rates of exporting wealth. Illinois&rsquo; out-bound rate hit all-time highs for both companies in 2014.<br /><br />The Amazon tax is estimated to bring in more than $200 million in additional annual tax revenue to the state, an amount that is likely to grow. This provides a perfect opportunity to repeal Illinois&rsquo; death tax to offset the new revenue growth.<br /><br />Repeal of the death tax would reduce out-migration, enhance economic growth and increase wages. It would also protect entrepreneurs who inherit the family farm or the family business.<br /><br />The death tax is a mistake that many state legislatures have recently undone or are seeking to repeal. Given the record out-migration Illinois suffered in 2014, policymakers need to pull every policy lever possible to improve economic growth and keep Illinoisans in the state. Repealing the death tax would achieve both.<br /><br /><em>Michael Lucci is Director of Jobs and Growth for the Illinois Policy Institute.&nbsp;</em><br /><br />"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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