Comment Re:I think this calls for a googlegasm (Score 1) 477
While I admire your moral stance (and agree), your understanding is quite flawed in regards to the tax.
Any sufficient level of wealth is easily able to bypass the inheritance taxes under the current system. It's all a matter of gaming the system. With any level of pre-planning it is almost trivial to avoid the majority of estate taxes that would be levied. Most if not all wealthy individuals have excellent tax and business consultation. As such, most understand and compartmentalize their wealth into chunks that cannot be easily dissected by the tax you're referring to through the use of corporate structures, limited partnerships, LLCs, and reasonable precautions.
In effect, the inheritance tax really only affects those individuals who:
1) have wealth to pass on
2) did not have proper planning/strategy for their wealth.
Who is that? That would be the middle and upper middle class. Most of whom may have a house and some money or stocks all in their own name.
The Rich DO NOT hold money in their name anymore, They own corporate interests and other non-persuable assets, all with transfer clauses in their corporate bylaws.
So really your stance puts a lot of middle class Americans in a position of continual generational mediocrity or poverty, while transferring those funds to an already wasteful and inefficient system (ie, the US government). Hardly ideal for anyone I think...
Any sufficient level of wealth is easily able to bypass the inheritance taxes under the current system. It's all a matter of gaming the system. With any level of pre-planning it is almost trivial to avoid the majority of estate taxes that would be levied. Most if not all wealthy individuals have excellent tax and business consultation. As such, most understand and compartmentalize their wealth into chunks that cannot be easily dissected by the tax you're referring to through the use of corporate structures, limited partnerships, LLCs, and reasonable precautions.
In effect, the inheritance tax really only affects those individuals who:
1) have wealth to pass on
2) did not have proper planning/strategy for their wealth.
Who is that? That would be the middle and upper middle class. Most of whom may have a house and some money or stocks all in their own name.
The Rich DO NOT hold money in their name anymore, They own corporate interests and other non-persuable assets, all with transfer clauses in their corporate bylaws.
So really your stance puts a lot of middle class Americans in a position of continual generational mediocrity or poverty, while transferring those funds to an already wasteful and inefficient system (ie, the US government). Hardly ideal for anyone I think...
