Tweet
Should death be a taxable event?
-
...people like to cry a lot... - Pekka
...we just argue without evidence, secure in our own superiority. - Snotty -
I don't think so, but inheritances should be. And that's what the "Death Tax" (properly known as the estate tax) is all about, clumsy as it may be.
-Arriangrog want tank...Grog Want Tank... GROG WANT TANK!
The trick isn't to break some eggs to make an omelette, it's convincing the eggs to break themselves in order to aspire to omelettehood. -
Why shouldn't I be allowed to pass on my wealth to my children?...people like to cry a lot... - Pekka
...we just argue without evidence, secure in our own superiority. - SnottyComment
-
Why should income derived from work be taxed, while income inherited be untaxed?"Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way. "
-BokononComment
-
I think it should be taxable in a manner consistent with Capital Gains Taxes.
Generally that means that if your kids sell anything you gave them, they should pay CGT in a manner consistent with as if you had sold it.One day Canada will rule the world, and then we'll all be sorry.Comment
-
Because the inherited money has already been taxed.Originally posted by Ramo
Why should income derived from work be taxed, while income inherited be untaxed?...people like to cry a lot... - Pekka
...we just argue without evidence, secure in our own superiority. - SnottyComment
-
Originally posted by Caligastia
Because the inherited money has already been taxed.
So has the money paid to you in wages by your employer.
George Will points out: "If you substidize something, you get more of it; if you tax it, you get less of it."
We should lower taxes on wages by raising taxes on dead people's estates. That way, we'll get more wages and fewer dead people.
Comment
-
I don't like that argument. If you inherited the money (in a non-inheritance tax environment) then your argument falls apart.Originally posted by Caligastia
Because the inherited money has already been taxed.One day Canada will rule the world, and then we'll all be sorry.Comment
-
How about if only the money inherited by your kin is taxed? Any money earned is exempt.Originally posted by Dauphin
I don't like that argument. If you inherited the money (in a non-inheritance tax environment) then your argument falls apart....people like to cry a lot... - Pekka
...we just argue without evidence, secure in our own superiority. - SnottyComment
-
The employer pays tax on profits, your wages are a tax deductable expense to him.Originally posted by Zkribbler
So has the money paid to you in wages by your employer.
It's all a wash though, nothing is in isolation and the whole double taxation thing is a red herring.One day Canada will rule the world, and then we'll all be sorry.Comment
-
Because the inherited money has already been taxed.
Why should that matter? Corporations that pay most peoples' pay check already have their profit taxed, their investors have their capital gains taxed, sales and purchases taxed, etc., etc., etc. The idea that money should go through only one round of taxation is quite ridiculous.
The idea behind a progressive tax system is that people who can most afford to pay taxes should pay a disproportionately high portion. Kids who get a fortune handed to them without working for it is high up on the list.
Dauphin, our CGT rates are rather perverse. It's at about half the rate of our highest income tax bracket."Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way. "
-BokononComment
-
I'd like to see how that is supposed to work.Originally posted by Caligastia
How about if only the money inherited by your kin is taxed? Any money earned is exempt.
You inherent $500k and earn $500k in your lifetime. When you die you have $500k. Did you spend your earnings or your inheritance?One day Canada will rule the world, and then we'll all be sorry.Comment
-
Fix 'em both.Originally posted by Ramo
Dauphin, our CGT rates are rather perverse. It's at about half the rate of our highest income tax bracket.
Any tax system implemented should not invoke spurious behaviour.One day Canada will rule the world, and then we'll all be sorry.Comment
-
In that scenario you'd be able to pass on 500k untaxed. Why does it matter though which half was spent? if it was spent that means taxes were almost certainly paid on purchases.
None of those examples is an example of multiple taxation. Property taxes are, the death tax is, and any kind of wealth tax would be. Why is is necessary to tax multiple times? In the case of wealth and property tax both can be used to produce income, but in that case just tax the income.Why should that matter? Corporations that pay most peoples' pay check already have their profit taxed, their investors have their capital gains taxed, sales and purchases taxed, etc., etc., etc. The idea that money should go through only one round of taxation is quite ridiculous.Comment
-
A federal inheritance tax in the USA would be unconstitutional ("direct tax not in proportion to the population on the states*, and yes, that is settled law), likewise, a federal property or wealth tax on the decedent would be unconstitutional, therefore the Federal estate tax purports to tax something else, the transfer of property out of the decedent's estate ("transfer taxes" {like sales or excise taxes on the trasferors} are "indirect taxes"). It is thus legally defined as tax on the dead person transfering his property, not on the heirs getting any, which pretty much makes it a 'death tax'.Originally posted by Arrian
but inheritances should be. And that's what the "Death Tax" (properly known as the estate tax) is all about, clumsy as it may be.
Examples of direct taxes would be:
Head taxes
Property/wealth taxes
Income taxes (but these were allowed to the feds by an amendment to the constituion)Last edited by Lefty Scaevola; August 13, 2007, 17:11.Gaius Mucius Scaevola Sinistra
Japher: "crap, did I just post in this thread?"
"Bloody hell, Lefty.....number one in my list of persons I have no intention of annoying, ever." Bugs ****ing Bunny
From a 6th grader who readily adpated to internet culture: "Pay attention now, because your opinions suck"Comment
Comment