Sir Turtle,
Sorry for the delayed response. The answer is no - I disclosed this in my original posting and indeed, it was part of my point. I consider myself to be very well off, I own my house, my car and even a few rental properties outright. My net worth is over 1.5 million and I'm in no danger of paying this tax. So, this tax is only for people who have an awful lot of money. If my estate was, say $5 million, the tax exposure would still be only 1.1 million at worst (assuming no clever generation skipping or other tricks) and I would still have $3.9 million to pass along. So it's NOT 55% of everything. Just 55% of the amount that exceeds $3 million.
My other point was why do people feel so much passion about this rare tax instead of all the really annoying taxes. Look at property tax, punishment for owning a home.
so you think that perhaps half of what you earn and pay taxes on along the way should be taken by the government? sorry, the "it only applies to some" is not a valid argument to me.
are you in any danger of paying a death tax?
Originally Posted by specklebang
All taxes are offensive. However, it seems to be what is. We could just be tax-free and allow the Government to print up what they need. But for some reason, that doesn't seem to be the reality of our present universe.
So, if we accept that taxes are necessary, or not necessary but a fact of life, this discussion is on a very specific portion of taxation, i.e. The Inheritance Tax.
To me, it's bizarre that this is an emotional issue for so many people. This tax only affects those with large estates. The IRS has provisions for payoff on farm and business inheritances. Personally, I think it's a perfectly acceptable tax and it won't affect me at all: a) I'll be dead and b) my estate will maybe be valued at $1.5M so no tax will be due. If the Inheritance Tax were eliminated tomorrow I would still be dead.
We used to have, and still do, have an aristocracy in America. Despite these high taxes, the heirs of the uber-rich still get plenty of free money and/or the uber-rich use generation skipping techniques', charitable donations and gifting to minimize this tax.
There are a lot of other taxes that should really upset people, like sales tax, phone tax etc. and nobody ever mentions them. Why do you suppose that is? These taxes claw at you every day, even if you're dead broke.