Ignoring the "fairness" issue, the estate tax is actually an economically efficient tax. The income tax discourages work (economic activity). The sales tax discourages consumption (economic activity). The capital gains tax discourages investment (economic activity). The estate tax generates substantial tax revenues without doing anything to discourage economic activity.
Thanks Deckard I believe you actually proved my point. People like you want more and more "programs" and tax dollars. People wanting more and more from the government is what has gotten this country in the financial mess it is in. You worry about what other states get while I believe no states should get money from the federal government. It doesn't make a lot of sense to give "100's of millions" to states when we are mortgaging our children's future while borrowing more and more money. The insanity has to stop some time and that goes for military spending too.
Lol. This is a good example of the resident crazies in action. Then he posts the communist manifesto!
Why don't blue states just use fed tax revenue for their own borders and let red states rot under their own DIY "small government, top 2%" ideology?
Several of you are fixated on a $5 million estate being rich. While it is indeed a nice estate, the majority of that would be in their business valuation, not just money stored in a bank or IRA or something somewhere. I don't consider it "idle rich" if they're constantly using the money to reinvest into their businesses, hire people, and dole out fair salaries with health insurance even to part-timers. I probably live more extravagantly than her parents do and I'm just a normal salaried employee at a company in Houston. Their house is 70+ years old and not very large and has no air conditioning (well, it is Hawaii). You might be thinking some fatcat sipping on martinis in the evening with a monacle, but you'd be completely wrong. These are two people in their 60's and 70's who have spent their life building a business and reaping few profits. Because of that hard work, a good valuation of their assets will cause a destruction of what they built over that time frame. Some may think that's sad, some may think it's simply giving their "fair share." Clearly, by my phrasing, I am the former. I realize that passing down an estate is a transaction and requires taxation. Perhaps this shouldn't be the discussion, but more of a discussion on what the rate and exception should be. If the current tax cut eliminating the estate tax expires, the rate will be 55% and exception $1 million. This seems out of whack with other taxes, as some have mentioned. Personally, there's nothing I can do, really. Who knows what the rate/exception will be in a few decades? I could try and vote to get it eliminated again, but that's sort of silly... I'd like to think I vote based on more than a single issue. Her parents are already seeing lawyers on what to do to ease the burden on her and her brother (who, I will note, wants to continue the business), so there's that.
Also, you'll have to excuse the double sin of double-posting and posting irrelevance, but every time I see the thread title, I can't help but think of OP saying "how can they tax?!" like in the Indian slap video.
Estate tax discourages saving, and arguably discourages investment. It does encourage spending thousands of dollars on attorneys and CPAs in estate planning. I don't like the estate/gift taxes. I understand the idea of redistributing wealth, but I would prefer it be abolished.
In theory it's even more positive than that it that it encourages consumption ("You can't take it with you") which generates more income for all.
Then Liberals need to stop telling the government to stay out of their bedroom and out of their uterus - because they don't own them.
The State's interest in my bedroom isn't very compelling...the State's interest in the economy is quite compelling.
I'm glad the OP's money can be stolen and family business destroyed to be given to the likes of Solyndra, the war on drugs, drone bombings, TSA, Fast & Furious, paying the largest prison population in the world, etc etc. Great plan you got there. That is sooo compelling.
You're all over the place...are you arguing against the taxing or what it's being used to fund? One at a time. You and I would probably agree on making changes to avoid a lot of the things you just rattled off.
It will never change - if anything they will just take more and more. The commies here now freely admit it.
Yeah, ok. The highest marginal tax rate in this country back in "the good old days" was 90%. Today it's 35%. Estate tax threshhold is greater today than it was 15 years ago. The whole, "woe is me" act about our country that the right is busy playing up is so pathetic and transparent.
