August 10, 2000 | Read Time: 1 minute
By THOMAS J. BILLITTERI
Officials of non-profit organizations who were thinking of weighing in on congressional efforts to repeal the estate tax might want to consider the comments of Sen. Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican who has helped to lead the effort to eliminate the levy.
In arguing that heirs often are forced to sell family businesses to pay estate taxes, Mr. Kyl told his Senate colleagues: “I am waiting for the first executive director of some big charity organization in the community to come back to me and lobby against the repeal of the estate tax on the grounds that it will hurt contributions to charity.
“I will immediately call every member of that person’s board of directors and say: Do you know what your hired person is lobbying for back here? They are lobbying to pay 55 percent of the estate tax to the U.S. government because it might be an incentive to contribute more to their charity.
“I think these folks will turn tail and go home,” Mr. Kyl continued. “The reality is, people who are big-hearted will make big contributionsand they can do it if they have an income stream coming, rather than if they have to sell the business to somebody else.”
