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The estate tax is almost always double taxation in general. If you just save up money from working and then you die, you'll have paid income tax on that money,
by tfehring 5y ago
The estate tax is almost always double taxation in general. If you just save up money from working and then you die, you'll have paid income tax on that money, then you'll be taxed again on that same money under the estate tax. If you invested it and realized capital gains, you'll pay capital gains tax on those gains, then you'll be taxed on those same gains again under the estate tax. Unrealized capital gains are the exception and not the rule here.
There's nothing fundamentally wrong with "double taxation," no rule that says every dollar must be taxed exactly (or at most) once. Sales tax is also "double taxation," for example. It's a useful heuristic for determine what should and shouldn't be deductible from a particular tax base but it's not a hard-and-fast rule.
- ric2b 5y agoIsn't double taxation when a tax applies on top of another tax? I think some people are trying to co-opt what it means to apply the "bad" reputation of double taxation to other things. My own country has a famous issue with double taxation as I know it: diesel/gasoline have a specific tax and then VAT is calculated on top of original_price * gas_tax, instead of the original price. So if the gas tax goes up 1% we end up paying more than 1% because it also the increases the value of the VAT.
- PaulDavisThe1st 5y agoDiscussing the estate tax without mentioning how few people are even subject to it is seriously misleading, even if you're not intending to be (and I don't think you are).
- kmonsen 5y agoI was going to mention sales tax, but many other taxes are also double taxation I think like property tax or gas tax or whatever is not income tax since you will pay for them with whatever you have left after paying for income tax.