WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Hillary Clinton on Thursday proposed raising taxes on inherited property to 65 percent for the largest estates as she bolstered plans for tax hikes on the wealthiest Americans.

Known by conservative opponents as the "death tax," the estate tax, levied on property transferred to heirs after its owner dies, currently is imposed only on inherited assets worth $5.4 million or more for an individual.



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15 PHOTOS Hillary Clinton heated debate moments See Gallery Hillary Clinton heated debate moments US Democratic presidential candidates Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) (L) and Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) shake hands at the conclusion of the Texas Democratic Party's presidential candidates debate at the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas, February 21, 2008. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi (UNITED STATES) US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN 2008 (USA) Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (L) speaks as Senator Bernie Sanders reacts during a Democratic debate hosted by CNN and New York One at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York April 14, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) listens as Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) speaks during the CNN/Nevada Democratic Party debate at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) in Las Vegas, Nevada November 15, 2007. REUTERS/Steve Marcus (UNITED STATES) U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) looks out into the crowd before the start of the democratic presidential debate at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire September 26, 2007. REUTERS/Brian Snyder (UNITED STATES) Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton gestures at rival Bernie Sanders as she speaks during the Democratic U.S. presidential candidates' debate in Flint, Michigan, March 6, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Young Hillary Rodham Clinton (right) speaks during the first New York Senatorial Debate as Representative Rick Lazio (R-NY) (left) watches at WNED public television station in Buffalo, New York, September 13, 2000. Clinton and Lazio are running against each other for the Senate seat from the State of New York being vacated by Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. BM/RCS Democratic U.S. presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (L) speaks as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton looks on as they discuss issues during the Democratic presidential candidates debate sponsored by MSNBC at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, New Hampshire, February 4, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (L) and her Republican challenger John Spencer prepare for their debate in New York October 22, 2006. REUTERS/Keith Bedford (UNITED STATES) Democratic U.S. presidential candidate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shares a laugh with fellow candidate and Senator Bernie Sanders at the conclusion of the second official 2016 U.S. Democratic presidential candidates debate in Des Moines, Iowa, November 14, 2015. REUTERS/Jim Young (TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) looks on as Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) speaks during the last debate before the Ohio primary in Cleveland, Ohio, February 26, 2008. REUTERS/Aaron Josefczyk (UNITED STATES) US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN 2008 (USA) US Democratic presidential candidates Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) square off in the last debate before the Ohio primary in Cleveland, Ohio February 26, 2008. REUTERS/Matt Sullivan (UNITED STATES) US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN 2008 (USA) Democratic presidential candidate US Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) gestures as she answers a question during the MSNBC/Nevada Democratic Party presidential candidates debate in Las Vegas January 15, 2008. REUTERS/Steve Marcus (UNITED STATES) US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN 2008 (USA) Democratic presidential candidates Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) speaks as Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) listens during the MSNBC/Nevada Democratic Party Presidential Candidate's debate in Las Vegas January 15, 2008. REUTERS/Steve Marcus (UNITED STATES) US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN 2008 (USA) Democratic presidential candidates Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) (L) and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) wait before the South Carolina Democratic party's presidential candidates debate at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, South Carolina, April 26, 2007. REUTERS/Jim Bourg (UNITED STATES) Republican Senate candidate Rick Lazio (L) and Democratic Senate candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton (R) pose for photogarphers before their debate in a television studio in New York on October 27, 2000. Lazio, a Long Island congressman, and the first lady are vying for the seat held by retiring Democratic Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. NBC newsman Gabe Pressman (C) moderated the taped debate. PM/ME Up Next See Gallery Discover More Like This HIDE CAPTION SHOW CAPTION of SEE ALL BACK TO SLIDE

Clinton's plan, posted on her campaign's website, would raise the estate tax from the current 40 percent to 45 percent, the rate that existed in 2009. But bigger estates would face rates of up to 65 percent for property valued at more than $1 billion per couple, under her proposal, an update of an earlier plan.

Jason Miller, a spokesman for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, issued a statement criticizing Clinton for a "dramatic hike in the death tax."

(Reporting by Emily Stephenson and Amanda Becker; Editing by Will Dunham)

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