[ridesthemiles]

A flaw in your reasoning:

IF I buy it myself-—I am controlling that decision.

IF I inherit-—that is out of my control. The dead person made that decision.

[Alberta's Child]

You could say the same thing about a lot of financial transactions that are reported on your tax return -- like a company bonus, for example.

It's not like the dead person is leaving an enormous liability to the one who is receiving the inheritance. It's a tax liability that is a fraction of an ASSET.

Having said that, I also believe that the tax code should include a provision that assesses the capital gains tax liability as soon as the asset changes hands in the inheritance process, but gives the recipient of the inheritance the ability to defer the actual payment of the capital gains tax until the asset is ultimately sold.