Buffett backs estate tax, decries wealth gap

By Kevin Drawbaugh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Billionaire Warren Buffett on Wednesday endorsed the estate tax as a check on wealth accumulation, while two senior U.S. senators said they want the tax repealed.

Revisiting a long-standing debate over the controversial tax, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing where Chairman Max Baucus said he supports ending the estate tax, although he said he did not expect this to happen any time soon.

"I think everyone in this room knows we're not going to repeal the estate tax. It's not going to happen in the foreseeable future," he said.

The Montana Democrat was joined by Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, the panel's top Republican, who said, "The estate tax is unjust. ... Death should not be a taxable event."

But Buffett, the second-richest man in America after Bill Gates, according to Forbes magazine, said recent tax law changes have tended to benefit people like him.

"Dynastic wealth, the enemy of a meritocracy, is on the rise. Equality of opportunity has been on the decline," Buffett said. "A progressive and meaningful estate tax is needed to curb the movement of a democracy toward plutocracy."

Buffett, the chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) questioned any effort to further cut taxes for the wealthy.

"Further shifting of this burden away from the super-rich is not the way to go," he said.