For those who oppose an inheritance tax ...

mfs378

Senior member
May 19, 2003
505
0
0
How is inheritance any different than a gift? In both cases the wealth is not earned, it is transfered.

As far as I know, gifts are taxed, so why should inheritance not be taxed?
 

Starbuck1975

Lifer
Jan 6, 2005
14,698
1,909
126
Quite simply because an inheritance is not a gift. During one person's lifetime, they work to sustain their own quality of life, and that of their immediate family. A child's relationship to a parent is completely different than say someone winning the lottery or receiving a gift.

If, through a series of smart investment decisions and strategies, I accumulate enough wealth to sustain my retirement and place my children in a more financially advantageous position, why should they not benefit from my hard work? Similarly, as I have already payed taxes on that income, and subsequent investments, why should my children have to pay any additional taxes on a transfer of wealth from parent to child?

Inheritance tax is government double dipping...plain and simple.
 

zephyrprime

Diamond Member
Feb 18, 2001
7,512
2
81
Originally posted by: Starbuck1975why should they not benefit from my hard work?
Because they didn't work for it. Inheritences are an economic distortion of the same type as government welfare.

 

steppinthrax

Diamond Member
Jul 17, 2006
3,990
6
81
I got 17,000 from my parents on the purchase of my house. I didn't pay not one red penny on that with my taxes.
 

techs

Lifer
Sep 26, 2000
28,559
4
0
Let's see. Eliminating the estate tax would give the Sam Walton family 34 BILLION dollars over the next ten years. And Bush wants to cut Medicaid and Medicare 28 Billion dollars over the next ten years.
Sorry, Walton family, but you have enough money for the next twenty generations even with the estate tax.
btw did you know that the Walton family has been pouring tens of millions of dollars into the elimination of the estate tax?
 

JD50

Lifer
Sep 4, 2005
11,918
2,884
136
Originally posted by: techs

Sorry, Walton family, but you have enough money for the next twenty generations even with the estate tax.

What gives you, or anyone else the right to decide how much money someone needs?

 

Genx87

Lifer
Apr 8, 2002
41,091
513
126
Originally posted by: techs
Let's see. Eliminating the estate tax would give the Sam Walton family 34 BILLION dollars over the next ten years. And Bush wants to cut Medicaid and Medicare 28 Billion dollars over the next ten years.
Sorry, Walton family, but you have enough money for the next twenty generations even with the estate tax.
btw did you know that the Walton family has been pouring tens of millions of dollars into the elimination of the estate tax?

And? Did you know the trial lawyers of america pours millions into the democrat party to keep tort laws in check? btw lawsuits costs our economy about 243 billion last year. Lots of that went to lawyers. I bet trial lawyers as a group made more money than big oil.
 

techs

Lifer
Sep 26, 2000
28,559
4
0
Originally posted by: Genx87
Originally posted by: techs
Let's see. Eliminating the estate tax would give the Sam Walton family 34 BILLION dollars over the next ten years. And Bush wants to cut Medicaid and Medicare 28 Billion dollars over the next ten years.
Sorry, Walton family, but you have enough money for the next twenty generations even with the estate tax.
btw did you know that the Walton family has been pouring tens of millions of dollars into the elimination of the estate tax?

And? Did you know the trial lawyers of america pours millions into the democrat party to keep tort laws in check? btw lawsuits costs our economy about 243 billion last year. Lots of that went to lawyers. I bet trial lawyers as a group made more money than big oil.
You just keep on making your wacky claims. No one here takes you seriously.

 

techs

Lifer
Sep 26, 2000
28,559
4
0
Originally posted by: ebaycj
Originally posted by: Genx87
Gifts arent taxed until a certain level.


Niether are inheritances.
In fact the inheritance tax only affects .2 percent of the population. I am in the 99.8 percent that it doesn't apply to. And the Democrats have offered time and time again to up the amount before the inheritance tax kicks in. But the Republicans are saying screw the .1 percent who would be helped by that. Lets hold out for the Walton family, the Mars family, etc. Full repeal or no tax break at all is the Republican plan. Just goes to show the Republican base is NOT the rich, but the SUPER rich.

 

Starbuck1975

Lifer
Jan 6, 2005
14,698
1,909
126
Because they didn't work for it.
No, but someone did, and that individual already payed taxes to the government on the income that created said wealth.

Inheritences are an economic distortion of the same type as government welfare.
An inheritance is the legitimate passing of wealth from those who earned it to their family and loved ones...and this is coming from someone whose upbringing was that of an immigrant blue collar family..my parents and grandparents certainly do not have a huge inheritance waiting for me, but if I am fortunate enough to become wealthy in my lifetime, I don't want Uncle Sam taking a chunk when I pass that wealth to my children.
 

Genx87

Lifer
Apr 8, 2002
41,091
513
126
Originally posted by: techs
Originally posted by: Genx87
Originally posted by: techs
Let's see. Eliminating the estate tax would give the Sam Walton family 34 BILLION dollars over the next ten years. And Bush wants to cut Medicaid and Medicare 28 Billion dollars over the next ten years.
Sorry, Walton family, but you have enough money for the next twenty generations even with the estate tax.
btw did you know that the Walton family has been pouring tens of millions of dollars into the elimination of the estate tax?

And? Did you know the trial lawyers of america pours millions into the democrat party to keep tort laws in check? btw lawsuits costs our economy about 243 billion last year. Lots of that went to lawyers. I bet trial lawyers as a group made more money than big oil.
You just keep on making your wacky claims. No one here takes you seriously.

I dont really care if simpletons like you take me seriously. But the number I have heard tossed around was the group as a whole took in between 43 and 60 billion off those settlements.

Or a little over 10 billion a qtr in profits.


 

BarneyFife

Diamond Member
Aug 12, 2001
3,875
0
76
Originally posted by: techs
Let's see. Eliminating the estate tax would give the Sam Walton family 34 BILLION dollars over the next ten years. And Bush wants to cut Medicaid and Medicare 28 Billion dollars over the next ten years.
Sorry, Walton family, but you have enough money for the next twenty generations even with the estate tax.
btw did you know that the Walton family has been pouring tens of millions of dollars into the elimination of the estate tax?

Medicare and Sam Walton are mutually exclusive. How do you know that $34 billion dollars wouldn't go to Iraq? We all know how f'd up the goverment's priorities are.
 

spittledip

Diamond Member
Apr 23, 2005
4,480
1
81
Some tax is ok, but a high tax is wrong b/c the person who earned it should decide what is to happen to THEIR money. I don't see why the govt should have claim to someone's money anyway.
 

imported_Shivetya

Platinum Member
Jul 7, 2005
2,978
1
0
Do you not believe that the money or item that comprises the gift was not already taxed? Just like the inheritance?


Both are double taxation.
 

imported_Shivetya

Platinum Member
Jul 7, 2005
2,978
1
0
Originally posted by: techs
Let's see. Eliminating the estate tax would give the Sam Walton family 34 BILLION dollars over the next ten years. And Bush wants to cut Medicaid and Medicare 28 Billion dollars over the next ten years.
Sorry, Walton family, but you have enough money for the next twenty generations even with the estate tax.
btw did you know that the Walton family has been pouring tens of millions of dollars into the elimination of the estate tax?

First, clueless, the Walton's already have tax advisors to make sure there will be NO impact from the death tax. That is the stupid part of all of this, the class warfare cry babies like yourself are usually too stupid to understand the reality of the system.
 

magomago

Lifer
Sep 28, 2002
10,973
14
76
While I haven't fully formed my opinion on this I still want to toss in my two cents...

Ideally, if we all work through our own merit - then 100% "death tax" shouldn't worry anyone.

I think the fear is maybe our kids - the people who are direct descendants of us biologically - may NOT be as successful as we were. However - if given that extra capital, they can get put "ahead" of the pack and be as successful as we were. Its clear none of us pray for the failure of the generation that comes after us.

With a death/inheritance tax - we are essentially saying that our kids are on their own~ that if we did not TRAIN them to have the skills to be successful, than they might be SOL and end up like some people that we tried VERY hard to avoid to be. And considering the world's population is growing is all the time - probability dictates that it is exponentially harder to succeed because we will be competing against many others who are also trying to succeed. But if we can give them money - if we can pass on inheritances, then clearly a person give their children - his or her biological descendants - a HUGE advantage. It reminds me of when Rockefeller was asked what was the fastest way to make a million dollars, and he replied that you should have 940,000 dollars first.

Its MUCH easier to pass on money, than to pass on skills, ideas, and a process of thinking that will allow a person to succeed based on merit.

However at the same time I can see how we can be scared of this - because rather than eliminating inheritance, what is really done is that it moves all the inheritance to the government - this makes the government exponentially more powerful~ And with the way that governments have had more control over our lives as time moves on...its not something that I would want to rush towards

What do you guys think?
 

JD50

Lifer
Sep 4, 2005
11,918
2,884
136
Originally posted by: magomago
While I haven't fully formed my opinion on this I still want to toss in my two cents...

Ideally, if we all work through our own merit - then 100% "death tax" shouldn't worry anyone.

I think the fear is maybe our kids - the people who are direct descendants of us biologically - may NOT be as successful as we were. However - if given that extra capital, they can get put "ahead" of the pack and be as successful as we were. Its clear none of us pray for the failure of the generation that comes after us.

With a death/inheritance tax - we are essentially saying that your kids are on their own~ that if you did not TRAIN them to have the skills to be successful, than they might be SOL and end up like some people that we tried VERY hard to avoid to be. And considering the world's population is growing is all the time - probability dictates that it is exponentially harder to succeed because we will be competing against many others who are also trying to succeed. But if you can give them money - if you can pass on inheritances, then clearly you give your children - your biological descendants - a HUGE advantage. It reminds me of when Rockefeller was asked what was the fastest way to make a million dollars, and he replied that you should have 940,000 dollars first.

Its MUCH easier to pass on money, than to pass on skills, ideas, and a process of thinking that will allow a person to succeed based on merit.

However at the same time I can see how we can be scared of this - because rather than eliminating inheritance, what is really done is simply moves all the inheritance to the government - this makes the government exponentially more powerful~ And with the way that governments have had more control over our lives as time moves on...its not something that I would want to rush towards

What do you guys think?

Personally, I think that its much more simple than that.

I made the money, I paid taxes on the money that I made, I saved money, I can do whatever I want with it. The government already got their cut when they took it out of my paycheck.

 

ntdz

Diamond Member
Aug 5, 2004
6,989
0
0
Originally posted by: techs
Originally posted by: Genx87
Originally posted by: techs
Let's see. Eliminating the estate tax would give the Sam Walton family 34 BILLION dollars over the next ten years. And Bush wants to cut Medicaid and Medicare 28 Billion dollars over the next ten years.
Sorry, Walton family, but you have enough money for the next twenty generations even with the estate tax.
btw did you know that the Walton family has been pouring tens of millions of dollars into the elimination of the estate tax?

And? Did you know the trial lawyers of america pours millions into the democrat party to keep tort laws in check? btw lawsuits costs our economy about 243 billion last year. Lots of that went to lawyers. I bet trial lawyers as a group made more money than big oil.
You just keep on making your wacky claims. No one here takes you seriously.

I do.
 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
74,769
6,770
126
Originally posted by: JD50
Originally posted by: techs

Sorry, Walton family, but you have enough money for the next twenty generations even with the estate tax.

What gives you, or anyone else the right to decide how much money someone needs?

What gives you the right to keep me from taking your money? Why is your assumptions about what is right better than mine? If you want to waste your life accumulating what is worthless why complain if I take your money to fund art or feed the poor. If you want riches you deserve to keep go in the forest and collect grubs. It was my family that made it possible for you to be rich. My family created the culture you are a parasite in.