'Only morons pay the estate tax ' says White House's Gary Cohn
Roberton Williams
"If you want  you can certainly reduce your taxable estate down to zero " said  Roberton Williams of the Tax Policy Center .
 Williams  said that the estate tax  designed to prevent the growth of large dynasties in the U.S. and to reduce inequality  does serve a broader purpose. And many wealthy families continue to pay  because "it's reasonable to pay it "  he  said.
But  he  said the amount of avoidance bolsters the argument by those who want to eliminate the tax.
"If you say that people don't pay it anyway  and you're going through all these machinations and tricks and lawyers to get out of it  then you're imposing unnecessary costs on society "  he  said. "The money is going to lawyers and accountants and not the government. So it could be viewed as wasteful spending."
"If you want  you can certainly reduce your taxable estate down to zero " said  [TGT] .
 [TGT]said that the estate tax  designed to prevent the growth of large dynasties in the U.S. and to reduce inequality  does serve a broader purpose. And many wealthy families continue to pay  because "it's reasonable to pay it "  [TGT]  said.
But  [TGT]  said the amount of avoidance bolsters the argument by those who want to eliminate the tax.
"If you say that people don't pay it anyway  and you're going through all these machinations and tricks and lawyers to get out of it  then you're imposing unnecessary costs on society "  he  said. "The money is going to lawyers and accountants and not the government. So it could be viewed as wasteful spending."