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Actually, in North Dakota it is a family farm since we specifically outlaw corporate farms. $5 million when the combine (or some tractors if renting the combin

Actually, in North Dakota it is a family farm since we specifically outlaw corporate farms. $5 million when the combine (or some tractors if renting the combines) is a $1 million plus some storage bins and the per acre cost of farmland is not a big farm. So, in the traditional sense, farming is really easy to tax infrastructure activity. That is why that tax is so hated. Farms are damn expensive.

maxerickson 10y ago
I'm pretty sure other millionaires hate taxes too.
- protomyth 10y ago
  Millionaire only when the tax man comes calling is quite a bit different than Silicon Valley millionaire after an IPO.
  - pcwalton 10y ago
    It sounds to me like the problem here is the specific combination of the state statute requiring farms to be owned by families and the federal estate tax. If so, it seems that there are multiple ways to solve this problem without wholesale repeal of the tax. Nobody wanted the estate tax to mean "the government gets 10% of Wal-Mart when Sam Walton dies". If that's the outcome that results in some cases, then fix that problem.
    - protomyth 10y ago
      Fixing the problem is pretty simple, repeal the tax. Its unseemly to tax a person when they die. Just the adding of grief (which I have recently experienced) is something we should not do to people. Plus, the continuing of this tax makes it hard for new family businesses (and a lot of minority owned family businesses are new) to build up like the incumbents were allowed.
      - pcwalton 10y ago
        You've shifted your argument to one that is not particularly convincing to someone who doesn't already share a right wing economic view. The North Dakota farm issue was interesting, as something I wasn't aware of (and thank you for bringing it up!) I'm less interested in engaging with the general libertarian argument against taxation.
      - crzwdjk 10y ago
        There's no a priori reason that property rights should survive a person's death, and plenty of arguments against allowing hereditary accumulation of wealth. Note also that currently the first $5.5 million is exempt, which is more than enough for the vast majority of individuals and even quite a few small businesses.
shuntress 10y ago
Is it something specific to farming? How is that different from, for example, $5,000,000 to buy a lot, build a gym, and stock it with equipment?
- protomyth 10y ago
  Don't know, never really talked to a gym owner before, but my suspicion is that it probably is a huge problem for anyone who builds up assets (that a tax person values highly) to do the job but not a lot of actual cash to pay the taxes. I think land or infrastructure intensive activities are probably all in the same boat.

maxerickson 10y ago

I'm pretty sure other millionaires hate taxes too.

protomyth 10y ago
Millionaire only when the tax man comes calling is quite a bit different than Silicon Valley millionaire after an IPO.
- pcwalton 10y ago
  It sounds to me like the problem here is the specific combination of the state statute requiring farms to be owned by families and the federal estate tax. If so, it seems that there are multiple ways to solve this problem without wholesale repeal of the tax. Nobody wanted the estate tax to mean "the government gets 10% of Wal-Mart when Sam Walton dies". If that's the outcome that results in some cases, then fix that problem.
  - protomyth 10y ago
    Fixing the problem is pretty simple, repeal the tax. Its unseemly to tax a person when they die. Just the adding of grief (which I have recently experienced) is something we should not do to people. Plus, the continuing of this tax makes it hard for new family businesses (and a lot of minority owned family businesses are new) to build up like the incumbents were allowed.
    - pcwalton 10y ago
      You've shifted your argument to one that is not particularly convincing to someone who doesn't already share a right wing economic view. The North Dakota farm issue was interesting, as something I wasn't aware of (and thank you for bringing it up!) I'm less interested in engaging with the general libertarian argument against taxation.
    - crzwdjk 10y ago
      There's no a priori reason that property rights should survive a person's death, and plenty of arguments against allowing hereditary accumulation of wealth. Note also that currently the first $5.5 million is exempt, which is more than enough for the vast majority of individuals and even quite a few small businesses.

shuntress 10y ago

Is it something specific to farming? How is that different from, for example, $5,000,000 to buy a lot, build a gym, and stock it with equipment?

protomyth 10y ago
Don't know, never really talked to a gym owner before, but my suspicion is that it probably is a huge problem for anyone who builds up assets (that a tax person values highly) to do the job but not a lot of actual cash to pay the taxes. I think land or infrastructure intensive activities are probably all in the same boat.