Hooray for the tax cut…

[CA renter]

[quote=GoUSC][quote=UCGal][quote=enron_by_the_sea]I was first be happy to not have to pay more in taxes next year. Two seconds later I realized that I would be paying that with interest one way or another in the future anyway! So I don’t what the big deal is about.

If they had done it without adding to the deficit (in the long term) then I might have been impressed….[/quote]
+10.

This just added a trillion bucks to the deficit. Much bigger than TARP 1.

One of the little things in the law – the rich (and anyone else with a spare $10Million) can now gift their kids $10M, tax free. If they do it in the next 2 years. This is in addition to the estate tax changes… ($5M tax free.)

So if your older and may die in the next 2 years – you could give $15M to your kids tax free.

Now where did I put that spare $10 million….[/quote]

I have never agreed with the gift or estate tax. It is pure double taxation. Why should my kids have to pay taxes on money that I earned and paid taxes on already? The answer is not more taxes. The answer is less government spending.[/quote]

Though I would be considered very liberal by some, I agree that the estate tax is a form of double taxation and is totally unethical. People try to argue that inheritance concentrates wealth, when the opposite is true. Most wealthy people have multiple beneficiaries of their estates — multiple children, spouses, friends, charities, etc. The wealth goes from one person/entity to many; wealth is usually distributed from a single entity to multiple people/entities when a wealthy person dies, so wealth tends to be diluted — NOT concentrated — upon death/inheritance.

What DOES concentrate wealth is investment/passive income, especially when it is taxed at a lower rate than labor! It means that the wealthy will grow even more wealthy, and do so at a much faster rate than those who actually have to work for a living. It means that the wealth disparity will grow wider and wider at an ever-growing rate. There is absolutely no reasonable argument that could justify this lower taxation on investment income, IMHO.

Personally, I favor a steeply progressive income tax, and believe that ALL income (dividends, LT capital gains, etc.) should be taxed at the same rate or higher than income earned from wages.

That being said, I do have a problem with stepping-up the cost basis for certain inherited assets. You should either have to use the original cost basis, or pay estate taxes. One or the other, you shouldn’t have both.

[Anonymous]

CAr makes some good points. Ultimately, I think inheritance tax is really a non-issue with regard to the effectiveness of tax policy. Like the outrage over earmarks, it’s a red herring – the numbers just aren’t significant enough to make a difference. The debate over inheritance taxes is simply meant to be a distraction. So get rid of the estate tax – it really makes no difference.

The crux of the tax debate is the steepness of the curve and the different rates for different type of income. These are the parameters that have the most impact on cost to individuals and total government revenue.

I completely agree that lower tax rates on dividends and capital gains are unfair. Although superficially these policies may seem to reward investment, they are arbitrary and biased.

Labor is capital also, and for many the capacity to work is the only capital they have. Why should their investment be taxed at a higher rate?

[Anonymous]

CAr makes some good points. Ultimately, I think inheritance tax is really a non-issue with regard to the effectiveness of tax policy. Like the outrage over earmarks, it’s a red herring – the numbers just aren’t significant enough to make a difference. The debate over inheritance taxes is simply meant to be a distraction. So get rid of the estate tax – it really makes no difference.

The crux of the tax debate is the steepness of the curve and the different rates for different type of income. These are the parameters that have the most impact on cost to individuals and total government revenue.

I completely agree that lower tax rates on dividends and capital gains are unfair. Although superficially these policies may seem to reward investment, they are arbitrary and biased.

Labor is capital also, and for many the capacity to work is the only capital they have. Why should their investment be taxed at a higher rate?

[Anonymous]

CAr makes some good points. Ultimately, I think inheritance tax is really a non-issue with regard to the effectiveness of tax policy. Like the outrage over earmarks, it’s a red herring – the numbers just aren’t significant enough to make a difference. The debate over inheritance taxes is simply meant to be a distraction. So get rid of the estate tax – it really makes no difference.

The crux of the tax debate is the steepness of the curve and the different rates for different type of income. These are the parameters that have the most impact on cost to individuals and total government revenue.

I completely agree that lower tax rates on dividends and capital gains are unfair. Although superficially these policies may seem to reward investment, they are arbitrary and biased.

Labor is capital also, and for many the capacity to work is the only capital they have. Why should their investment be taxed at a higher rate?

[Anonymous]

CAr makes some good points. Ultimately, I think inheritance tax is really a non-issue with regard to the effectiveness of tax policy. Like the outrage over earmarks, it’s a red herring – the numbers just aren’t significant enough to make a difference. The debate over inheritance taxes is simply meant to be a distraction. So get rid of the estate tax – it really makes no difference.

The crux of the tax debate is the steepness of the curve and the different rates for different type of income. These are the parameters that have the most impact on cost to individuals and total government revenue.

I completely agree that lower tax rates on dividends and capital gains are unfair. Although superficially these policies may seem to reward investment, they are arbitrary and biased.

Labor is capital also, and for many the capacity to work is the only capital they have. Why should their investment be taxed at a higher rate?

[Anonymous]

CAr makes some good points. Ultimately, I think inheritance tax is really a non-issue with regard to the effectiveness of tax policy. Like the outrage over earmarks, it’s a red herring – the numbers just aren’t significant enough to make a difference. The debate over inheritance taxes is simply meant to be a distraction. So get rid of the estate tax – it really makes no difference.

The crux of the tax debate is the steepness of the curve and the different rates for different type of income. These are the parameters that have the most impact on cost to individuals and total government revenue.

I completely agree that lower tax rates on dividends and capital gains are unfair. Although superficially these policies may seem to reward investment, they are arbitrary and biased.

Labor is capital also, and for many the capacity to work is the only capital they have. Why should their investment be taxed at a higher rate?

[Anonymous]

Right or wrong I’m all for higher inheritance tax. What did those worthless, spoiled rich kids to do deserve that financial windfall? They didn’t do shit, their parents did, or their grandparents. I say tax the shit out of em. You can call it “double taxation” if you want but all the same, it would rather them pay more than the rest of us.

Anyone who relies on their family for their financial well being is a loser in my book.

[Anonymous]

Right or wrong I’m all for higher inheritance tax. What did those worthless, spoiled rich kids to do deserve that financial windfall? They didn’t do shit, their parents did, or their grandparents. I say tax the shit out of em. You can call it “double taxation” if you want but all the same, it would rather them pay more than the rest of us.

Anyone who relies on their family for their financial well being is a loser in my book.

[Anonymous]

Right or wrong I’m all for higher inheritance tax. What did those worthless, spoiled rich kids to do deserve that financial windfall? They didn’t do shit, their parents did, or their grandparents. I say tax the shit out of em. You can call it “double taxation” if you want but all the same, it would rather them pay more than the rest of us.

Anyone who relies on their family for their financial well being is a loser in my book.

[Anonymous]

Right or wrong I’m all for higher inheritance tax. What did those worthless, spoiled rich kids to do deserve that financial windfall? They didn’t do shit, their parents did, or their grandparents. I say tax the shit out of em. You can call it “double taxation” if you want but all the same, it would rather them pay more than the rest of us.

Anyone who relies on their family for their financial well being is a loser in my book.

[Anonymous]

Right or wrong I’m all for higher inheritance tax. What did those worthless, spoiled rich kids to do deserve that financial windfall? They didn’t do shit, their parents did, or their grandparents. I say tax the shit out of em. You can call it “double taxation” if you want but all the same, it would rather them pay more than the rest of us.

Anyone who relies on their family for their financial well being is a loser in my book.

[an]

[quote=deadzone]Right or wrong I’m all for higher inheritance tax. What did those worthless, spoiled rich kids to do deserve that financial windfall? They didn’t do shit, their parents did, or their grandparents. I say tax the shit out of em. You can call it “double taxation” if you want but all the same, it would rather them pay more than the rest of us.

Anyone who relies on their family for their financial well being is a loser in my book.[/quote]
Wow, just wow.

[an]

[quote=deadzone]Right or wrong I’m all for higher inheritance tax. What did those worthless, spoiled rich kids to do deserve that financial windfall? They didn’t do shit, their parents did, or their grandparents. I say tax the shit out of em. You can call it “double taxation” if you want but all the same, it would rather them pay more than the rest of us.

Anyone who relies on their family for their financial well being is a loser in my book.[/quote]
Wow, just wow.

[an]

[quote=deadzone]Right or wrong I’m all for higher inheritance tax. What did those worthless, spoiled rich kids to do deserve that financial windfall? They didn’t do shit, their parents did, or their grandparents. I say tax the shit out of em. You can call it “double taxation” if you want but all the same, it would rather them pay more than the rest of us.

Anyone who relies on their family for their financial well being is a loser in my book.[/quote]
Wow, just wow.

[an]

[quote=deadzone]Right or wrong I’m all for higher inheritance tax. What did those worthless, spoiled rich kids to do deserve that financial windfall? They didn’t do shit, their parents did, or their grandparents. I say tax the shit out of em. You can call it “double taxation” if you want but all the same, it would rather them pay more than the rest of us.

Anyone who relies on their family for their financial well being is a loser in my book.[/quote]
Wow, just wow.

[Author]

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