evidence: Earlier this year, as part of the American Families Plan, the Biden administration proposed closing a nearly century-old loophole called "step-up in basis," saying it is "exacerbating inequality." While many can take advantage of that rule, those who benefit the most are in the top 1 percent of income earners (earning more than $1 million of income). That group is disproportionately White: While 15 percent of White Americans are millionaires, only 2 percent of Black Americans are millionaires. A complete repeal of the stepped-up basis rule would raise an estimated $505 billion over 10 years. This week, though, the House Ways and Means Committee released its tax package, which drops that proposed reform. [...] There is no good reason to have one rule for gifts, which preserves the government’s ability to tax the gain upon later sale, and a different rule for inheritances, which eliminates it. The "stepped-up" rule only encourages those in the know to hoard property until death. The Biden administration sought to change that by requiring the heir to receive the property with the basis Aunt Ethel had. There were exceptions: The new rule would allow you to use the stepped-up loophole if Aunt Ethel was single and didn’t have more than $1 million of built-in gain ($2.5 million if she was married). Another exception would protect family-owned businesses (including farms) as long as they remain family-owned and operated.