Thread: The State Death Tax

If there's a more parasitic, draconian, state law than these death taxes...I have yet to come across it. I always heard the famous platitude, "Well the death tax only affects millionaires". Bzzzt. Guess again. The state will take their cut (if you get left a quarter, you better believe they will come for their nickel). Not to mention that the feds get in on the act by declaring a lot of assets as "income" not part of the estate, thus adjusting your annual income, which is already taxed far too high.

Thieves, parasites, and vultures all of them. This is money that was already taxed once,being taxed again for no other reason than the fact that life on this planet is temporary.

Originally Posted by gannan

If there's a more parasitic, draconian, state law than these death taxes...I have yet to come across it. I always heard the famous platitude, "Well the death tax only affects millionaires". Bzzzt. Guess again. The state will take their cut (if you get left a quarter, you better believe they will come for their nickel). Not to mention that the feds get in on the act by declaring a lot of assets as "income" not part of the estate, thus adjusting your annual income, which is already taxed far too high.

Thieves, parasites, and vultures all of them. This is money that was already taxed once,being taxed again for no other reason than the fact that life on this planet is temporary.

What taxes are you speaking of, specifically? There is no death tax in America that I know of. There may be some, but I am unaware of it.

Yes, their are inheritance taxes, and yes, the estate of the deceased still has to file income taxes, etc. But I am unaware of any direct tax on an estate of the deceased.

Originally Posted by Dick Martin

What taxes are you speaking of, specifically? There is no death tax in America that I know of. There may be some, but I am unaware of it.

Yes, their are inheritance taxes, and yes, the estate of the deceased still has to file income taxes, etc. But I am unaware of any direct tax on an estate of the deceased.

States have direct taxes on the estate. My state does anyway. The feds will treat portions of the estate as income, and tax that. So to say we do not have an estate tax on folks with less than 5 million (a popular platitude) is a fallacy.

Originally Posted by gannan

If there's a more parasitic, draconian, state law than these death taxes...I have yet to come across it. I always heard the famous platitude, "Well the death tax only affects millionaires". Bzzzt. Guess again. The state will take their cut (if you get left a quarter, you better believe they will come for their nickel). Not to mention that the feds get in on the act by declaring a lot of assets as "income" not part of the estate, thus adjusting your annual income, which is already taxed far too high.

Thieves, parasites, and vultures all of them. This is money that was already taxed once,being taxed again for no other reason than the fact that life on this planet is temporary.

Some states have estate taxes some don't, which causes a lot of tax shopping, the federal estate tax need to be strengthened, or just done away with.
Either have some process for taxing estates that can't be easily avoided, or do away with the estate tax, and just count inheritance as income.
Most of the estate tax is collected on unrealized gains, money that has never been taxed. This is a tax that was first proposed by Thomas Paine, championed by Teddy Roosevelt, it is based on the notion that America should be a meritocracy, not a hereditary aristocracy.

What is the reasoning that says that the income of the children of rich people should be untaxed, but the income of us working people must be taxed?

It turns out many states do have an estate tax over a certain threshold very few of them do indeed have one under a million dollars. How heavily those are taxed I do not know. I still am not sure why this tax gats people more worked up than any other. We have many different ways of taxing US citizens, some are weighted (income tax) some are not (sales tax) and some affect different segments of the population. This is no different.
Meanwhile the "taxing twice" argument is just stupid. Anytime you make a purchase and pay sales taxes you are in fact being taxed twice (once on your income, and once for your purchase).
I dont see this as any more parasitic or depraved than any other tax, yet somehow it really gets people fired up in a way that no other tax does. Quite mysterious

Originally Posted by Dick Martin

What is the reasoning that says that the income of the children of rich people should be untaxed, but the income of us working people must be taxed?

Who said anything about rich people?

Originally Posted by rocheteau

It turns out many states do have an estate tax over a certain threshold very few of them do indeed have one under a million dollars. How heavily those are taxed I do not know. I still am not sure why this tax gats people more worked up than any other. We have many different ways of taxing US citizens, some are weighted (income tax) some are not (sales tax) and some affect different segments of the population. This is no different.
Meanwhile the "taxing twice" argument is just stupid. Anytime you make a purchase and pay sales taxes you are in fact being taxed twice (once on your income, and once for your purchase).
I dont see this as any more parasitic or depraved than any other tax, yet somehow it really gets people fired up in a way that no other tax does. Quite mysterious

Specifically I was talking about Pennsylvania. Which is 4.5% no matter the amount. If you inherit a dollar, you better believe they are coming for their 4 and a half cents. Here's what I found for all states...


The states that impose an inheritance tax are: Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

States that impose an estate tax are: Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

Originally Posted by goober

Some states have estate taxes some don't, which causes a lot of tax shopping, the federal estate tax need to be strengthened, or just done away with.
Either have some process for taxing estates that can't be easily avoided, or do away with the estate tax, and just count inheritance as income.
Most of the estate tax is collected on unrealized gains, money that has never been taxed. This is a tax that was first proposed by Thomas Paine, championed by Teddy Roosevelt, it is based on the notion that America should be a meritocracy, not a hereditary aristocracy.

That is not the realized effect though, we more or less ended up with a bloated out of control government aristocracy over any real notion of meritocracy.

Originally Posted by Sluggo

That is not the realized effect though, we more or less ended up with a bloated out of control government aristocracy over any real notion of meritocracy.

What country are you talking about?
Government by it's very nature will always appear bloated, and there will always be inefficiencies. There are always inefficiencies in any human enterprise, and you will find inefficient waste and abuse in the private sector to match anything you find in the government sector.

The idea of an estate tax is
A) to generate revenue
B) to wipe out huge fortunes within a couple of generations, because we don't want a hereditary aristocracy, Bill Gate's kids should be rich, but we don't need a 27th Earl of Redmond 900 years from now still living off the money from Windows XP.