Repeal the Death Tax? Not so Fast....

The Weekly Standard ^ | Irwin Stelzer

[rdb3]

SEVERAL YEARS AGO I SUGGESTED in these pages that it would be good conservative policy to raise, rather than lower, inheritance taxes. After all, American conservatives, traditional and neo, believe in a meritocracy in which material success should depend mostly on our own efforts and accomplishments, rather than those of our ancestors.

What has Mr. Stelzer been smoking? Must be some serious chronic.

[konaice]

" After all, American conservatives, traditional and neo, believe in a meritocracy in which material success should depend mostly on our own efforts and accomplishments, rather than those of our ancestors."

Right, and we all have to start from scratch, to satisfy his egalitarian bent.

We also believe in personal property, and the right to dispose of it as we see fit.

Another "hate the successful" rant.

[NavVet]

"Inheritance taxes force the sale of small businesses or farms. No. Any such entity surely has borrowing power in excess of the amounts required to meet the taxman's demands, and can therefore raise any needed cash."

Absolutely not true. For many small farms / businesses, the Cash value of the real estate is such, that the cash flow of the business / farm is not sufficient to qualify for a loan big enough to pay the death tax. So many have to sell the family business, just to pay the taxes.

[blues_guitarist]

Balderdash!

[wita]

X2

[tomakaze]

SEVERAL YEARS AGO I SUGGESTED in these pages that it would be good conservative policy to raise, rather than lower, inheritance taxes. After all, American conservatives, traditional and neo, believe in a meritocracy in which material success should depend mostly on our own efforts and accomplishments, rather than those of our ancestors.
 
death taxes (income taxes) freeze old fortunes and get in the way of the creation of news ones.
like Bill Gates sr (MS Bills old man, a bloviating old fart who's already built his family fortune/legacy) this guy is an utter tool.
ok so im not feeling very eloquent right now.

[wita]

29 paragraphs? Explaining what should have taken one sentence. This reminds me of the DIY Network, or is it HGTV, one of them has a house giveaway yearly. The house and property are worth over a million dollars, and the taxes have caused the winners to have to sell the property to pay the taxes rather than move in and go broke. Admittedly these are not inheritance taxes, however, the result is the same.

There is a huge difference between property and cash. In the sale of a business, for example, if you are buying out a partner, you pay him cash leaving you with property, you could be in deep trouble. Bottom line, dead folks shouldn't have to spend their lives before death worrying about government taxing what has already been taxed numerous times prior to their death. Transfers at death ought to be at the desire of the deceased, and not taxable, despite the ramblings of Irwin for the weakly standard

[DuncanWaring]

I noticed back when "Bill Gates the Elder" was going on about the joys of the Death Tax that his son was dead-silent on the issue.

[Smokin' Joe]

But there seems little reason to add to such inherited (via genes or environment) advantages the financial assets created and accumulated by the efforts of others. And, on a more pragmatic level, at a time when the government is badly in need of revenue to meet the president's goal of cutting the budget deficit in half, abolishing receipts from the inheritance tax will increase pressure on Congress to find other sources of revenue, sources far more likely to create disincentives to economic growth.

By this reasoning, a child whose father worked himself to death by October, 1929 should have had their inheritance taxed pi$$less, just in time for the depression.

From what I have observed, wealth is not necessarily the product of genetics, intelligence, schooling, or accumulated wealth. There is a substantial element of risk, the willingness to embrace an opportunity when presented with one, and, the ability to recognize that opportunity.

In some instances, it is the result of hard work and scrupulous saving.

If the Government wishes to balance the budget, it should do some scrupulous saving by eliminating the extraConstitutional garbage on which it would fritter away our ancestors' hard earned money.

Enough about "replacing revenue". How about cutting the bill?

[SC DOC]

My objection to the House version of the bill that recently passed is that it will eliminate "stepped-up" basis of property, thereby increasing the overall tax liability to heirs through capital gains tax rather than inheritance tax. Hopefully the Senate version will fix this, or many people will get screwed.

[Gay State Conservative]

I'd be in favor of a pre-mortem death tax of 99.1% for the likes of Comrade Dean,The Most Ethical Couple In History,Mother Teresa and Lord Teddy of Chappaquiddick.

And speaking of Lord Teddy,has anybody read about the nasty guardianship fight that Lord Teddy's kids are waging with their mother because she had the temerity to announce that she plans to sell her 30+million dollar Cape Cod house? It's really juicy stuff!

[muir_redwoods]

"It turns out that much of the wealth subject to the estate tax has not previously been taxed."

And good marxist theory will never let a penny move without taxing it. Does it never occur to these pinheads that it is not their place to tax everything? There should be some connection between amount taxed and benefit received.

[Tax-chick]

What unutterable piffle! If successful people want to leave all their money to charity instead of to their families, fine ... but inheritance tax is nothing but legalized theft.

I suspect this gent is a paid shill for the estates-and-trusts industry, which would be largely out of business if donative transfers were untaxed.

[TommyDale]

Not only do Democrats oppose the death tax, they want to step up the average age of death to age 55.

[McGarrett]

These folks don't realize that a decent size farm, say a section (1 square mile, 640 acres) is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, especially after the real estate boom of the past few years. And, as NavVet pointed out, they may not generate the cash flow to cover the cost of the loan, especially when that's added to farm expenses. (That doesn't even include the problems that develop when they have a poor crop year.) So, the inheritence tax on a peice of land that's been in the family for 125 years has to be paid again and again as the generations pass. And people wonder why the farming population continues to dwindle.

[CGTRWK]

"Inheritance taxes force the sale of small businesses or farms. No. Any such entity surely has borrowing power in excess of the amounts required to meet the taxman's demands, and can therefore raise any needed cash."

The guy says this as if taking out a big loan to pay the death tax is free money.

[numberonepal]

abolishing receipts from the inheritance tax will increase pressure on Congress to find other sources of revenue

Then maybe Congress should look for things to CUT!

[Jimmy Valentine]

"Inheritance taxes force the sale of small businesses or farms. No. Any such entity surely has borrowing power in excess of the amounts required to meet the taxman's demands, and can therefore raise any needed cash."

False argument. Sure you "can raise the cash" through loans, but the business/farm/enterprise has to generate the money (net POST TAX income) to pay the loans back, which is not always possible.

This is some economist!

Regards,