I find interesting the idea that because inherited wealth is not “earned” it should be taxed at a higher rate than income “earned” through wages. Maybe we should create a new government agency that audits everyone every year and determines if they “earned” their income that year, relative to all other people, and adjust their tax rate accordingly.
For example: Income “earner” A is the founder of a succesfull tech company, honestly works 80-90 hours per week, and pays herself $500,000 per year in cash and stock . Income “earner” B is a HS dropout who works a combined 80-90 hours per week at three different part-time jobs, and she is paid a total of $40,000 per year. Income “earner” C is an equity analyst who “works” 60 hours per week, but on average 10 of those hours are spent posting in online forums, 2 are spent masturbating in the men’s room, 20 are spent “networking”, and 28 are spent doing actual work. He is paid $300,000 per year. Income “earner” D is a union government worker who clocks in at exactly 9:00am everyday, clocks out at exactly 5:00 everyday, and averages about 18 hours of actual work in the equivalent of 46 weeks per year that he’s actually supposed to be at work. He is paid $65,000 per year.
I’d say A & B actually “earned” their income, so they should have a 25% income tax rate. C & D clearly did not “earn” their income, so I say we tax them at 40%.
The issue I have with a wealth or estate tax is you’re effectively taxing income twice. I earn $100, tax takes $40. I die and give the $60 to my kid, tax takes $24. I now paid 64% tax instead of the 40% rate. Yet the guy that blew the $60 on beer and hookers paid less tax. Unjust. I am a big fan of the efficiency and fairness of consumption taxes.
For all you that have a hard-on for taking other people’s money, just because they have more than you, do you have a problem with wealth being transferred tax-free through marriage?
And if you were king, how would you remedy the disparity of wealth between Norway and Liberia? Maybe transfer all Norwegian legacy(oil) wealth to the people of Liberia?
This has nothing to do with anything. Nobody is advocating “taking other people’s money.” I could make a sound argument against all forms of taxation. What you earn is yours and it’s wrong for someone to try to take it.
Unlike income or sales tax, an estate tax is not taken from the people who earned it in whatever legal fashion they did so. It takes from those that are getting something for nothing (the heirs). The person who earned it is dead.
So, why is estate tax itself specially morally reprehensible compared to income, sales or property tax? I agree it could have limited effect due to tax shelters, but that is another argument.
Not only where they taxed twice but both times a significant amount of those, um, repatriated dollars were lost due to huge bureaucratic inefficencies. Every time the IRS touches a dollar about $0.30 just evaporates into thin air.
It pisses me off because it’s the government being nothing more than opportunists. They see money in motion, the owner isn’t around to defend it, and the beneficiary is seen as entitled or spoiled if they cry foul. It’s straight-up stealing.
What’s really comical is that when people are asked, “what is the maximum percentage of someone’s income that the government should take?”, the answer is usually far below the reality.
On side note, I don’t think groups should be targeted by the tax code. Creates class and political warfare and conflicts of interest. Tax everyone the same percentage on consumption and use refundable rebates to create “fairness”, i.e. tax everyone 20% and give every citizen, say, 5K a year(amount would have to be tweaked), including the billionaire. Eliminate all means based programs. Wouldn’t we all be happier? I find food stamps naive and demeaning. Empower the people. Give them cash. They already use entitlements as currency, just with a huge discount.
If the government just printed all the money, then we’d still get eaten alive by the “inflation tax”. Who would end up suffering most and benefitting the most is hard to say. I’d guess that the poor folks would still suffer and the rich would reap most of the benefits, but that’s just a guess.
humans don’t live in a bubble. when you amass significant wealth (i.e. in the billions) throughout your lifetime despite the ability to only put in 2x as many working hours as the typical person, you clearly benefitted from several public/social institutions along the way. no idea is any good unless the general public (or a large group at least) takes a liking to it. banks, which are in existence to aid the general populace in making large capex investments, are social products, in existence for the betterment of society, not the rich few. you were born into the society in which you pulled so much capital from so you owe that society some of your undue winnings. that society provided you with education, roads, the internet, etc, etc, so why shouldn’t you pay a much greater % of your wealth back to society in gratitude so that future “yous” can continue to acheive greatness.
i’m just waiting for the repubs to chime in saying MARXISM! to call this line of reasoning socialist/marxist/whatever is dumb. of course its socialist, we live in a society, do we not?
That’s the difference. Family has been a strong incentive of man since long before our time. The idea that I’m not not entitled to control my wealth, but others are, after my depth is something that goes against the very being of why I get up in the morning. I want my heirs, not yours, and the certain other people of my choosing to benefit from my discretion and limited consumption during my life. My money will continue to be taxed, as it was while I was alive, through the consumption of my heirs for the benefit of my fellow citizens. I will pay my “share.” This creates steady revenue for the government as a going concern and the percentage of that tax can be tweaked as the people see fit. The estate tax is the most gamed tax anyway and makes it very unfair. Two people with a 100 million can and do end up paying very different amounts in estate tax. My life would be very different if you said you were confiscating my wealth at death. I’d probably go sit on the beach and game the system. If these welfare queens can do it, I’d bet I can bring the game to a whole new level.