re: IRS collected a gargantuan $7 billion estate tax from a single source, nobody knows who

quote:

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What percentage of that inheritance you received do you think would be a fair portion to forfeit as a tax?

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That's kind of a stupid question. Who is OK with paying taxes under any circumstances? I don't like paying sales taxes, income taxes, capital gains taxes, property taxes, etc.

I think everyone can agree that some level of taxes or individual contribution for common benefits are necessary. Nevertheless, the point of this thread is not whether taxes are OK. That's the topic of a different thread.

The point of this thread is whether taxes paid on estates received by beneficiary/heirs is a rational way to generate tax revenues.

It is, and it is the most fair and rational way to generate tax revenue.

Compare, for example, income taxes and estate taxes. Is it better to generate revenue from someone working for the money received, or is it better to generate revenue from someone who has not worked for the money received? Don't we want to incentivize people being productive?

If we had only two options to generate tax revenue, income tax or estate tax, would we not want to decrease income tax by generating estate tax revenue?