Estate Lunacy

Why should money be taxed again?

The estate has POST tax money, and it should not be taxed again. There are ways around it by setting up trusts etc....but it is double taxation.

DD

 

I'm fine with this as long as they trim 1 trillion in useless crap from the government budget to balance it out. You know, fiscal conservatism - that thing the republicans used to at least pretend to care about.

Start with the DoD. That's where the most waste is.

 

man,you love to argue don't you???

i told you i wasn't arguing!! i'm genuinely asking. you can answer the question and not pick a fight or just ignore my question entirely!

wow.

 

OK since the rich don't want to pay the government or support any social programs, then let's just get rid of the entire government. Let's get rid of that bloated military budget, let's stop sending money to states for schools and roads, lets end social security and welfare, no more money for Israel, just shut the whole place down and put a for sale sign on Washington DC. I'm not rich and I don't like paying taxes either, but the wealthy in this country seem to have a lot of comtempt and lack of compassion for common working folks these days. Remember what the French did to their rich in the French Revolution? Off with their heads!

 

The story here is not really whether the state is good or bad or can be reformed to make it better... it's that the Conservatives running this country have foisted another untrue talking point into the political discourse... "estate taxes bad for family farmers," and used it to help out their large donors, who probably have money invested in large agro firms and could care less about family farmers. Populist language to support a "favor the really rich" policy... and we see it over and over again from this administration and this generation of Conservative leaders.

 

Well said. It's the whole "clean air initiative" thing again.

Or, more aptly, the "party of kansas christians" instead of "party of big business". What's that book again? -ah here it is:

What's the matter with Kansas?

 

Hell, it's a significant income producer for the Federal government. It affects a tiny percentage of Americans, and most of those complaining remind me of the Old South folks who could never own slaves, because they didn't have the income, but by god, they were willing to throw their lives away for the rights of the big plantation owners so they could benefit.

People, the government has to have money coming in, in order to do the things required of a responsible government. Yes, our current government is hardly responsible, but the income from this tax is needed, regardless. The overwhelming majority of you will never get close enough to sniff this tax, but if it is gotten rid of, you can bet your bottom dollar that you will be paying for it somehow. You will pay for it by having to pay the increase on the national debt, because it will increase. Your grandchildren will be paying for it as well.

This is all about saving rich people millions of dollars. It doesn't have a damn thing to do with middle to upper middle class, or even moderately wealthy Americans. This is yet another tax giveaway to the rich by the GOP and the Bush Administration.

Want tax reform that will help 2-income professional families? Families that may just be (gasp!) upper middle class? Families that earn income in the (gasp!) low 6 figures? Support reform of the alternative minimum tax. The rest of this is smoke and mirrors bull****.

No thanks needed. You're welcome, anyway.



Keep D&D Civil.

 

All taxes distribute wealth.

Estate tax is not a double tax entirely. There is a step up in basis for capital goods that denies the government a potential capital gain tax.

 

Estate taxes and other obvious reasons are why we should all get behind the "Fair Tax" initiative.

The FairTax replaces the income tax and all other federal taxes with a national consumption tax. The FairTax is levied only once, at the point of purchase on new goods and services. The simplicity of the FairTax frees Americans from our current overwhelming tax code and unshackles the U.S. economy.


The FairTax:
Abolishes the IRS
Closes all tax loopholes and brings fairness to taxation
Maintains our current Social Security and Medicare benefits
Brings transparency and accountability to tax policy
Allows American products to compete fairly
Reimburses the tax on purchases of basic necessities
Enables retirees to keep their entire pension
Enables workers to keep their entire paycheck

More info available here:

http://www.fairtaxvolunteer.org/pdf/FairTax_Act_Summary.pdf

BTW, you only really need to read the first page of that link.

 

i don't have a strong opinion on this issue. i really don't. frankly, the existence of the estate tax supports part of my firm's revenues each year.

but it can affect more folks than you think. when i first started practicing law, the exemption was at $675,000. today it's at $2 million. so any dollar you pass beyond $2 million is taxed at 46%. you pass all that to your spouse tax free....but if she dies before depleting it...or if you die contemporaneously or close...then your estate is taxed at the 46% rate for every dollar above $2 million. in 2010 it goes to nothing...there is no estate tax at all. but i believe it returns in 2011 with an exemption of $1 million again. with life insurance, having a $1 million estate is not nearly as big a deal as it sounds. there are lots and lots of people who find themselves with estate tax problems that would never have dreamed of it. they hire people like me to get them into bypass trusts to avoid it....but this is not an issue merely for the uber-rich. for the paris hiltons of the world.

 

the step up is phased out in 2010, i believe, for estate tax purposes.

 

its always seemed like double taxation to me. Maybe we need to do a better job with other tax enforcement if this is going away. I just hate the double taxation crap. And Alternative minimum tax is becoming a big problem. The whole system needs an overhaul

 

Instead of trying to figure out ways for the government to squeeze more money out of us, maybe the congress should work on spending less money, and no, the DoD is not the best place to start looking.

 

*Ding*

We have a winner.

What do some of you define as "rich?" Someone who makes more money than you? When do you go from being "middle class" to being "rich?"

 

No doubt, why support a bloated government taking more of ANYONE'S hard earned money?

Why not hold the government accountable, and balance a budget?

DD

 

I'm all for taxing the weathy, but the US estate tax is one of the most convoluted, mixed up taxes I've ever seen.

Taxing capital....bump ups in cost base without a corresponding tax hit...lots of planning around it.

It's an unfair tax. Repeal it...but replace it with something better.

 

Well, my question doesn't apply to the article so I'd say it doesn't matter.

I constantly hear about how the rich are the only ones who benefit from anything Bush does nowadays.

When do you stop being normal and become rich?