The political use of "death tax" as a synonym for "estate tax" was popularized in the Gingrich period by Jack Faris of the National Federation of Independent Business. [25] It has been widely but inaccurately attributed to Republican pollster Frank Luntz. In a memo, Luntz wrote that the term "death tax" "kindled voter resentment in a way that 'inheritance tax' and 'estate tax' do not" [26].
Linguist George Lakoff alleges the phrase is a deliberate and carefully calculated neologism which is used as a propaganda tactic to aid in the repeal of estate taxes. However the use of "death tax" rather than "estate tax" in the wording of questions in the 2002 National Election Survey increased support for estate tax repeal by only a few percentage points.[27]
FWIW.
Cheers,
Scott.