5552

That’s the thing about the estate tax that makes me not really give a shit about it, despite generally being anti-tax.

I mean, the only folks it affects are the ultra wealthy. It’s not seriously impacting normal folks… not even really rich folks. Only CRAZY rich folks, who are still gonna be crazy rich after paying the tax.

5553

I am not against some kind of estate tax, so don’t think that. I just think there were some statements made that were basically anti-rich for the sake of being anti-rich.

5554

You mean the lucky individuals that happen to be related to the deceased rich person? It just keeps wealth in the hands of the wealthy.

5555

It depends on the source of the income. Money in an IRA inherited would be taxable if removed from the IRA. Property inherited would become taxable if their is a profit from the sale from the time of death to the time of sale.

But you don’t pay taxes on assets without some kind of income or non-pre-taxed status existing before.

I am not an accountant but have dealt with an inheritance and it’s ramifications.

5556

Family. Say it…family.

Your hatred for the wealthy is showing. :)

Are you really an accountant who hates people with money?

5557

I’m not really anti-rich, as much as I’m indifferent to them. I do not fell like they are suffering from some sort of plight.

Hell, by most standards I’m perhaps “rich”, even though I choose to live pretty modestly. I consider myself so because I don’t need to worry about money, and could buy more garbage if I really wanted to. I pay a good chunk of taxes.

But folks who are millionaires and billionaires? They don’t need more money. It will have no measurable impact on their lives at all. What’s more, giving them more money won’t impact SOCIETY at all, in any beneficial way.

If you can take more money in taxes from the ultra rich, and use that money to make measurable improvements to the lives of other folks, then we should do that. The net gain will be good, and it will result in no significant reduction in the personal liberty of those rich folks.

5558

Fucking commie
/s

5559

Just one that cares about the less fortunate. Imagine that. The programs and people that Trump and the GOP will fuck over to pay for this extremely unnecessary tax cut mean more to me than the megawealthy.

5560

Based solely on my Steam library, I’m rich as @#$%. Maybe that counts for something? Thanks Obama/Humble Bundle!

5561

It’s not anti-rich, it’s being a realist. If we’re going to live in a capitalist society, we need to be open-eyed about it.

Wealth tends to generate wealth, it’s right there on the tin. Look at how much someone like Bill Gates makes a year just off of the wealth he’s accumulated. Taxing a dead person (after allowing them to generously provide for their offspring before kicking in) is a necessary redistribution, otherwise we end up a plutocracy. We’re already creeping towards that as it is, eliminating the estate tax is going all-in on it.

You can leave $5 million to your kids tax-free. You can still leave them billions, but half of those billions goes to society. That’s not even counting how their offspring has received enormous opportunities in the form of education, career opportunities, etc. They’re doing just fine.

5562

Yeah, I don’t mind laws that put the brakes on wealth aggregation. Fetishizing unfettered wealth aggregation and consolidation over all other things – and enshrining it as a core value of liberal democracy or even the free market – is one of those quiet mindfucks that conservatives have played very skillfully over the decades.

“Redistribution” is a dirty word, but that’s what it is. Fine by me, within reasonable limits.

5563

Actually, it is 5.49 million right now (changes every year) but is not per child, that’s a total.

5564

Well, shit. Now I’m over the limit if I die. Seems I have to make some tough choices …

- marks Scuzz off the inheritance list -

Also, Scuzz, your comment reminded me of this:

Family!

5565

Dude, is that the priest from 5th element talking to connor mccloud?

5566

You actually remember scenes from 33 year old Tarzan movies?

5567

I do. But mostly because this triggered it.

What, you guys don’t think about Tarzan movies?

5568

The example always brought up is farmers. The estate tax destroys family farms! Never mind that corporate farming has already displaced the family farm.

The thing that bothers me is we had an ideal at one time of a more egalitarian society. The estate tax does a little to promote that ideal by removing a bit of wealth via the estate tax. If you get rid of the tax it just makes easier for wealthy scions to sit back and live off the earnings of their money. What’s the current tax rate on capital gains? Fifteen percent?

5569

There can be only one … movie with both of them in it.

5570

Is that really the first place your mind goes when you see Ian Holm?

Mine goes elsewhere.

5571

It was, oddly… but that’s so weird, because I never associated the priest from 5th element with Ash.

What’s funny though, is that when I saw that tarzan clip, and was writing that, I was thinking, “Hrm… that guy must have been in somehting other than Tarzan and 5th element.” but i totally blanked on it.