Dozens of America's wealthiest citizens are urging the US Congress not to repeal taxes on estates and gifts, saying the proposal would come at the expense of working-class families.
The petition against the repeal is being organised by Mr William Gates Sr, father of the world's richest man, Microsoft founder Mr Bill Gates. The petition has been supported by billionaire investors Mr Warren Buffett and Mr George Soros, and Mr Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.
The petition, which was signed by some 120 wealthy Americans, will appear on the The New York Timeson Sunday and later in other newspapers.
President Bush has proposed phasing out estate taxes by 2009. The petition argues that "repealing the estate tax would enrich the heirs of America's millionaires and billionaires while hurting families who struggle to make ends meet."
Mr Buffett, the fourth richest man in the US after Mr Gates, said repealing the tax "would be a terrible mistake," the equivalent of "choosing the 2020 Olympic team by picking the eldest sons of the gold-medal winners in the 2000 Olympics."
In addition to billions of dollars in lost government revenue, the repeal would harm charities, to which many of the affluent make contributions as a way of reducing the size of their estates, the petition claims.
US estate taxes are assessed on the net worth of an individual at death. No tax is levied for the first $675,000 the person leaves behind, but beyond that threshold taxes are assessed at a rate ranging from 37 per cent to 55 per cent.
AP