Re: inheritance taxes/US

In article <2lqpe1pscaleg92otfbo8vjrr5jdhm5vds@xxxxxxx>,
Rick@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Rick) says...

> I view a tax on an estate as a posthumous tax on the earner of
> that estate as it is not at all dependent on who gets the money that
> is left.

I certainly think that should change. If Bill Gates wants to leave his
vast fortune for the care of indigent pussycats, and a pittance to his
relatives, they shouldn't have to pay any estate tax. Of course, there
is no reason he couldn't have made that disbursement before his death,
so the situation would never arise. Still, inheritance should be
treated like any other income, while taking into account that it is
pretty much a one shot income. If there are a dozen heirs, each heir
should have their income treated separately.

> Gates paid through the nose, and when he dies you think it is proper
> he should have to pay again *before* anybody inherits. Then when his
> heirs do inherit, they pay again to the state. Well that is how it
> works now, but I still say it is communist in nature "to each
> according to theirs needs"

Now there we disagree completely. Death is an off switch. Before you
die, you are a person. After you die, you are not. A corpse cannot pay
taxes, for the simple reason that a corpse cannot own anything.

You also seem to have the idea that Gates paid taxes on his vast
fortune. That is not true. He has to pay taxes on his pocket change,
but until he cashes in stocks for money, his vast fortune is tax free.
If he wants to build a $50 million dollar mansion, all he has to do is
let the corporation build it for him. When he moves in, he has to pay
taxes on an estimated monthly rent. That is all. Income taxes are
designed to tax people who work for a living, not those who accumulate
vast assets.

If there were no estate or inheritance taxes, vast fortunes would never
be subject to any taxes at all. Ever.

I have no problem with Bill Gates becoming the richest man on earth in
only 2 decades. I do have a problem with a generation of leeches living
off the accomplishments of the past. Some accumulation of capital is
necessary. We do, after all, live in a capitalistic economy, and it is
a cinch that your average peon isn't going to take a flyer on a whole
new industry. Balanced against that is the terrible liability of a
powerful inherited privileged class.

--
http://home.teleport.com/~larryc
.

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