The Death Tax and Morality

Discussion in 'Budget & Taxes' started by Liberty_One, Jul 17, 2015.

  1. Liberty_One

    Liberty_One Active Member

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    When I hear progressives talking about the Estate Tax, they talk about how it doesn't effect most people. It's only those with more than $5 million in assets that it even effects, so why do the rest of us even care? Why would we be against something that doesn't hurt us and might benefit us? The most common explanation given by progressives is that us dumb peons think that we'll all be rich someday, so we don't want to be taxed when we are. They talk about how Americans don't think they're poor but just temporarily embarrassed millionaires. They say that we're just voting against our own interest because we're manipulated by slogans like "class warfare" and our dumb belief in our future riches.

    They never seem to consider that we are against the Death Tax because it is simply immoral. It's wrong to steal money from someone just because you can. That person was taxed their whole lives on their income, and if they made too much, well they're taxed again when they die. Sure, robbing rich people and dividing up the loot might benefit the looters, but it's wrong. It's immoral. We are against it because we have a conscience. I don't care if someone else is rich, their wealth won't make me poor.
     
  2. Anders Hoveland

    Anders Hoveland Banned

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    I agree that the Death Tax is inherently unfair and inconsistent with reason. Why should there be no tax on the money if the person who earned it spends it himself, but suddenly there is a huge tax on it if the person who earned it wants to give it to one of their relatives for them to spend it?

    A tax was already paid on the money when it was earned in the first place. Why are many progressives so opposed to people spending money they did not earn?

    I realize there is the issue of investment income too, but even then the Death Tax is not necessarily fair or consistent. Imagine if the original owner died and the money was left to a relative, and then that relative died 1 year later and left it to another relative. Would the money get double taxed?

    Or what if there was someone who earned a lot of money in his early years and then lived to be 110 years old? Why should he pay less tax than someone who died at the age of 40, leaving his money to his son, who only lived 15 more years? The old man in the first example would have been able to collect far more investment income on all his money than the father and son put together in the second example. The point I am trying to make is that the Death Tax does not correlate well to passive investment income.
     
  3. CourtJester

    CourtJester Well-Known Member

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    Other than the fact that the Estate Tax impacts the heirs and not the person who left the estate your post might make sense.
     
  4. CourtJester

    CourtJester Well-Known Member

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    You do understand of course that passive investment income has worked very well for generations before the Estate Tax exemption was raised or the current attempt to eliminate it entirely. As a matter of fact you could argue that the US economy was in much better shape before the exemption was raised.
     
  5. unrealist42

    unrealist42 New Member

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    Of someone makes a lot of money it is their money that they earned. Their kids had nothing to do with any of that. When they die the money they choose to give to their kids is income for the kids and should be taxed as their income.

    This whole argument that the money was already taxed is completely insane. Consumers pay income tax on the money they pay out for property taxes and sales tax and excise tax and all the other consumption taxes so all of those taxes should also be in the same boat as the tax on money their grandfather earned that he left to them.
     
  6. CourtJester

    CourtJester Well-Known Member

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    Just because an arguement is incorrect has never stopped Conservatives from repeating it endlessly.
     

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