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The tax code is what it is. The deaths of the four people did not cause the government to lose the money. The structure of the tax code did.
by forgotAgain 16y ago
The tax code is what it is. The deaths of the four people did not cause the government to lose the money. The structure of the tax code did.
- brown9-2 16y agoDubner's point here is that the timing of the deaths did in fact cause the government to miss out on some tax revenue. I agree he's being a bit cute about the wording, but it is just a blog post - not a NYTimes cover news story. He's trying to make a point about the quirks and odd facets (some might call them ridiculous) of our tax code.
- spinlock 16y agoOr, maybe not. You see, this year, you not only get to avoid the death tax but you also miss out on the step-up in tax basis. So, you can pass assets down to your heirs tax free but they then have a much larger tax bill if they ever realize the gains on those assets.
- jonhendry 16y ago" The structure of the tax code did." Then the decision of the Republicans to structure the tax code so that the kids of billionaires get tax-free windfall income has cost other taxpayers billions.
- donspaulding 16y agoFTFY: ...so that the kids of billionaires get tax-free windfall income just like the kids of non-billionaires...
- jonhendry 16y agoThe billionaire kids won't have been saddled with the cost of supporting their ailing parents. The two situations are not just like each other. Also, there's a benefit to society in avoiding a hereditary concentration of wealth in a quasi-aristocracy of Paris Hilton-class morons.