Thread: The imitaors!

Originally Posted by Nord Jim

And don't believe everything that right wing talk radio tells you. They tend to misrepresent this stuff.

Is a source that doesn't?

Originally Posted by Nord Jim

Money is taxed when it changes hands. Try it. For the recipient of the estate, it's income and it's only taxed that once. The only further tax is on income from investing it.

When pressed, the American Farm Bureau couldn't cite a single case of a family farm lost because of the estate tax. That's a lie told by politicians trying to transfer America's wealth from the middle class to their rich sponsors. Right now, the exemption for estate tax is two million. It rises to 3.5 million next year, which means that less than 4 percent of all business would even potentially be affected. Tell your farmer friend to get a good accountant and he's got nothing to worry about.

And don't believe everything that right wing talk radio tells you. They tend to misrepresent this stuff.

But I have to object to being called un-american. That's the last refuge of the scoundrel and the fact that you used it on me is unconscionable. If you can't do better than that, perhaps you should bow out.

j

I think Tim said "least American thing said in this thread" and not "you're unamerican"!

Also, I wonder if you can give us a link for your info? Maybe Tim can also and we can have dueling links! I can hear the banjos now!

Originally Posted by JMS

I think Tim said "least American thing said in this thread" and not "you're unamerican"!

You're parsing words like Bill Clinton. What's next? "Depends on what you mean by 'is.'?" I think his meaning is crystal-clear.

Also, I wonder if you can give us a link for your info? Maybe Tim can also and we can have dueling links! I can hear the banjos now!

Mostly came from the Treasury Department and the IRS. The Farm Bureau quote came from the New York Times -- at least as reliable as Fox News, no?

j

Originally Posted by Nord Jim

You're parsing words like Bill Clinton. What's next? "Depends on what you mean by 'is.'?" I think his meaning is crystal-clear.


Mostly came from the Treasury Department and the IRS. The Farm Bureau quote came from the New York Times -- at least as reliable as Fox News, no?

j

Bill Clinton? Nobody has ever compared me to old Billy boy!
Thanks for making my morning!

Originally Posted by JMS

Bill Clinton? Nobody has ever compared me to old Billy boy!
Thanks for making my morning!

My pleasure. Thought you'd enjoy that, if only for the mental audacity. I think we all need to get in touch with our inner Bubba once in a while.

j

I must apologise, there are certain deduction one may take in order to help reduce the estate tax burden in the case of a transfer of a family farm (according to Internal Revenue Service).

I wonder why they wrote special exemptions into the law if no one was unfairly harmed by it

And also on the issue of taxation if you should sell the inherited land you just paid estate taxes on you are also then required to pay capitol gains on the total value of the land just as if it had been gifted to you.

In other words I earn a dollar the government takes 25 cents I take my 75 cents and buy something (we'll ignore sales tax as it isn't federal........yet!) I die, and my 75 cents is taxes down to sixty or less then my descendant sells the item and is taxed another 20 cents. So now less than half of my hard earned money is my descendants to do with as they please.

Taxed Taxed And Taxed again..................Wheres my KY I'm getting a little sore here.

Originally Posted by Wildtim

I must apologise, there are certain deduction one may take in order to help reduce the estate tax burden in the case of a transfer of a family farm (according to Internal Revenue Service).

I wonder why they wrote special exemptions into the law if no one was unfairly harmed by it

And also on the issue of taxation if you should sell the inherited land you just paid estate taxes on you are also then required to pay capitol gains on the total value of the land just as if it had been gifted to you.

In other words I earn a dollar the government takes 25 cents I take my 75 cents and buy something (we'll ignore sales tax as it isn't federal........yet!) I die, and my 75 cents is taxes down to sixty or less then my descendant sells the item and is taxed another 20 cents. So now less than half of my hard earned money is my descendants to do with as they please.

Taxed Taxed And Taxed again..................Wheres my KY I'm getting a little sore here.

Good and good, though your example is a bit off base. You don't even pay the Paris Hilton tax unless you inherit more than $2million. The average American family can leave their house, car and everything else they own to their children and those children will never pay a dime of tax on that inheritance. When you sell the family home you didn't pay any inheritance tax on, you should pay capital gains tax because, guess what, you've made a capital gain. Exorbitant inheritance and meritocratic democracy cannot live together. And the reason they wrote that exemption is because, without it, a very small proportion of family farms and businesses would have been overly burdened by it.

Originally Posted by Kantian Pragmatist

The average American family can leave their house, car and everything else they own to their children and those children will never pay a dime of tax on that inheritance.

Oh I understand that, it just seems unfair to treat someone a different just because they did better in life than their peers. Thus my illustration breaking it down into a small number that everyone can understand and sympathise with.

Originally Posted by Kantian Pragmatist

When you sell the family home you didn't pay any inheritance tax on, you should pay capital gains tax because, guess what, you've made a capital gain.

Go ahead and ask me what I think of the capital gains tax

Originally Posted by Kantian Pragmatist

Exorbitant inheritance and meritocratic democracy cannot live together.

While I believe it should most certainly be possible for those who have great merit to rise to great wealth, I in no way can countenance the government theft of that wealth from the next generation just because the themselves did not earn it.

If I were in a position of inheriting a fortune it would most definitely have affected my educational choices. Instead of focusing on learning skills that could generate money from my efforts I would have focused on learning skills that generate money from money. Would I be any less skilled or meritorious had I been in a position to do so? I would still have used my learning capabilities to the same extent and put my skills to the same end.

Its funny that if I manages other peoples money in order to grow their fortunes I am called a professional money manager and accorded respect. If I inherit a fortune and use the same skill set to manage my own money and make it grow I am called a parasite or worse a wastrel.

Originally Posted by Kantian Pragmatist

Good and good, though your example is a bit off base. You don't even pay the Paris Hilton tax unless you inherit more than $2million. The average American family can leave their house, car and everything else they own to their children and those children will never pay a dime of tax on that inheritance. When you sell the family home you didn't pay any inheritance tax on, you should pay capital gains tax because, guess what, you've made a capital gain. Exorbitant inheritance and meritocratic democracy cannot live together. And the reason they wrote that exemption is because, without it, a very small proportion of family farms and businesses would have been overly burdened by it.

I guess I just don't understand why it's ok to set an arbitrary limit on how successful you can be before it becomes morally acceptable for the gov't to screw your kids.

Originally Posted by jockeys

I prefer a society that maximizes both personal freedom and personal responsibility. imho, American is already too "European"

+1

the less government in my life, in my pocket and on my back, the better.

i think that where we have lost our way is that many americans don't want the responsiblity that accompagnies freedom. for some, it is far too easy to blame someone else for your shortcomings and failures.