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Also known as "The Evil Socialist Death Tax That Will Destroy Your Life Savings" if you're Boehner.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wiki
The estate tax in the United States is a tax imposed on the transfer of the "taxable estate" of a deceased person, whether such property is transferred via a will or according to the state laws of intestacy. The estate tax is one part of the Unified Gift and Estate Tax system in the United States. The other part of the system, the gift tax, imposes a tax on transfers of property during a person's life; the gift tax prevents avoidance of the estate tax should a person want to give away his/her estate just before dying.
In addition to the federal government, many states also impose an estate tax, with the state version called either an estate tax or an inheritance tax. Since the 1990s, the term "death tax" has been widely used by those who want to eliminate the estate tax, because the terminology used in discussing a political issue can affect popular opinion.
If an asset is left to a spouse or a charitable organization, the tax usually does not apply. The tax is imposed on other transfers of property made as an incident of the death of the owner, such as a transfer of property from an intestate estate or trust, or the payment of certain life insurance benefits or financial account sums to beneficiaries.
I bring this up for two reasons: a. the tax act will expire in 2010 and b. today I heard two Latte drinking yuppies talking about some issue as if it was the end of the world. I was rather shocked to find they were discussing the estate tax (though they of course being children of Rove referred to it as the death tax instead.) This is a tax that has never made sense to me (the tax itself makes perfect sense; the controversy not so much) because you'd think you'd stop caring about your money once you were ... you know dead.
Anyway I think one of the largest problems with this issue is the false nuances that surround it. The wealthiest of America, you know the people that actually have estates, have managed to convince every Bush loving redneck that "death taxes" cause families to sell their farm (which have been in their family for generations and generations and all that romanticized Little House on the Prairie bullshit) and old businesses, etcetera. They do this of course without pointing to any sort of factual example, or even a apocryphal example - which is odd considering only a minority of the estates (and keep in mind only the wealthiest 1% are even taxed) end up paying these taxes since most of them manage to hire the best lawyers to alter the planning structures of the estate to avoid even paying the tax (God Bless America.)
One of the only arguments of slightly merit I've heard is the argument of the American Dream. The idea that you could work yourself up to become the richest man in the country and then build this fabulous estate and pass it on to your kids to ensure their economic security. However, it's not like the government takes your entire life savings (and it's a shame they don't; who wouldn't want to see Paris Hilton sucking cock for a li- oh right.) The problem with this is the fact when the rich continue to amass all the wealth this is only a reality for the people who are inheritances. Which would of course mean, in the words of Hunter S. Thompson, the American dream is fucked.
02-17-2009, 12:52 AM
Estate Tax
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