An important legacy of Jimmy Carter - a WSJ letter. Really
I enjoyed Stuart Eizenstat’s op-ed “Jimmy Carter’s Unappreciated Legacy” (Dec. 30), but he left out one of the former president’s greatest accomplishments: signing into law the Revenue Act of 1978. Among its tax reforms, this law added Section 401(k) to the Internal Revenue Code.
After the Internal Revenue Service issued final regulations in 1981, my wife and I contributed the maximum we could in 1982 and every year until last, when we started taking our required minimum distributions. We are not alone. According to the Investment Company Institute, at the end of 2023, $10.6 trillion dollars are in 401(k) and other defined-contribution plans.
It is one of the greatest investments the federal government has ever made. Assuming the average tax rate will be around 25% on withdrawals, the federal government has a more-than $2.5 trillion tax receivable in those plans at the end of 2023.
As a tax practitioner for more than 50 years, I can’t think of any greater tax reform that benefited the government and the taxpayer at the same time. Thank you, President Carter.
Stacy Eastland
Houston
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/readers-respond-on-jimmy-carter-presidency-675f9af0?st=WCuCEW&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
free
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Don't bother with the other letters or with any responses.
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