Estate Tax

The House passed a bill to permanently extend the estate tax at current rates. It approved the measure 225-200, less than a month before the current law would eliminate the estate tax for next year and then return it in 2011 with fewer exemptions and higher rates. The bill would make permanent this year's $3.5 million per-person exemption and 45 percent tax rate on estates.

Why is it that democrats look more republican these days than the republicans do?

your perception?

just seems odd that the Dems finally pass perm. estate tax relief that the repubs. tried to pass but could not. Now the Repub. are voting against the bill i guess because it is a dem. bill?

how about eliminate it????

The Estate (Death) Tax is Robbery...

wheel,

Agree with #5. Taxes have already been paid at least once by the time you die. If you have never been involved in estate taxes consider yourself lucky. It is designed to leave very little left, or was.

FORTY FIVE PERCENT?!?!?!?!?!

Wow, that's enough to make a person...hmm, I dunno...hide their money in a tax shelter to avoid paying anything at all? Or cook their books? That kind of tax rate basically ENCOURAGES people to commit tax fraud. Jeez...

This **** amazes me sometimes.

^ It used to be higher and was anything over $1mill...

wheel,

#3 RELIEF??!?!? 45% Tax is a **** relief? Give me a break.

The real reason behind the estate tax, and stay with me, as this is a really complicated analysis:

they can.

It's like hitting cigar smokers for SCHIP. Do we injure or kill a child each time we light up? Much as I'd like to have that power (especially after a flight when someone's precious snowflake has been screaming the entire flight, or just about any time I've been shopping in Wally World), the answer is no. We're taxed to provide kids health insurance because we are the low-hanging fruit. There are enough of us to financially rape that it's profitable, but not enough of us to vote out the rapists who impose the taxes.

Estate taxes are felt by very few people. Most people don't inherit enough to be impacted. Consequently, it's a popular way to raise taxes without incurring the wrath of the average voter, who sees it as a rich person's problem.

It's that simple, folks. They do it because they can.

Wealth is often accumulated across generations. Slapping on an estate tax is a means to prevent people from becoming independently wealthy, and expands the base of people who are dependant on government services.

And, as pacman said: because they can.

INCOME REDISTRIBUTION NOW!!!

Yeah, and I guess that the rich don't have any way around it, could have fooled me.

The minority (dying/recently dead people) are easily screwed by the majority (taxaholic socialist politicians).

What's not to love??

Death panels will be run as a "for profit" enterprise!

If I didn't know better, I'd think drywalldog really hates the rich.

I guess you have to blame somebody for personal failures and all the wrongs in life...why not blame the rich.

A tax is a tax !

Don't tread on me!

End entitlements now !

...I owe my soul to the company store.

OMG #11 jpotts AGREES w/ #10 pacman357

The Estate Tax BLOWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ONCE YOU EARN IT and pay taxes on it ONCE, then it should be UNTAXABLE to future heirs.

Reasons not to repeal the estate tax completely:

1. Step-up income tax basis. With very few exceptions, when someone dies, their assets get a "stepped-up" income tax basis, so the estate or the heirs can sell the assets and not pay income tax on the sell. If the estate tax is repealed, this benefit goes away. Example: A farmer has a 500 acre farm. He paid $100 an acre for it years ago. now worth 1,000 an acre. With the estate tax in place, the kids pay zero estate tax due to the $3,500,000 exemption and pay zero capital gains tax when they sell the property because they don't want to farm. Without the estate tax,the kids will pay $67,500 in federal capital gains taxes, plus state income tax on the sell. The family pays LESS tax with the estate tax laws on the books.

2. The $3,500,000 exemption exempts about 99.5% of all Americans from the estate tax.

3. The estate tax encourages philanthropic planning/giving. Without the estate tax laws, organizations like the Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation, and the thousands of other private charitable organizations, would not exist, resulting in a major reduction of private funding for good works both here and around the world. The end result, we would have to look to the government to fund what private organizations take care of now, and we all know that the government is the MOST effective way to help people in need.