sj_zero on Nostr: Inheritance taxes are actually a method that ensures the rich get richer and the ...
Inheritance taxes are actually a method that ensures the rich get richer and the middle class gets poorer.
Let's say you're a global megacorp buying up farmland. You don't die, ever, because you're not a real person but a legal construct.
Now let's say you're an individual who owns a small farm. You do die, because you're a human being.
So the global megacorp never has to pay any additional taxes on its property because it's an immortal legal construct, but the individual's kids have to sell the farm to pay the inheritance taxes. The global megacorp buys the farm.
The ultra-rich who want to keep their assets can also use similar types of loophole to prevent their assets from ever being taxed -- So the people who end up paying aren't the rich, but the poor and middle class who might have a little wealth to pass on but not enough to utilize loopholes similarly. For example, instead of passing on wealth, the assets can be placed in a shell company in a jurisdiction without inheritance taxes (pretty hard to do with a piece of land with a single owner, but quite easy for other forms of wealth accumulation)
Want to know a funny thing about Bill Gates and Warren Bufett who both claim they should be paying higher taxes? Those charitable organizations they created and funded hold their assets tax-free, and so their kids can get cushy jobs at those organizations, transferring the wealth without any inheritance tax -- and in the meantime they can have a direct outsized impact on governments that help them accumulate more power and wealth! Win/win!
Let's say you're a global megacorp buying up farmland. You don't die, ever, because you're not a real person but a legal construct.
Now let's say you're an individual who owns a small farm. You do die, because you're a human being.
So the global megacorp never has to pay any additional taxes on its property because it's an immortal legal construct, but the individual's kids have to sell the farm to pay the inheritance taxes. The global megacorp buys the farm.
The ultra-rich who want to keep their assets can also use similar types of loophole to prevent their assets from ever being taxed -- So the people who end up paying aren't the rich, but the poor and middle class who might have a little wealth to pass on but not enough to utilize loopholes similarly. For example, instead of passing on wealth, the assets can be placed in a shell company in a jurisdiction without inheritance taxes (pretty hard to do with a piece of land with a single owner, but quite easy for other forms of wealth accumulation)
Want to know a funny thing about Bill Gates and Warren Bufett who both claim they should be paying higher taxes? Those charitable organizations they created and funded hold their assets tax-free, and so their kids can get cushy jobs at those organizations, transferring the wealth without any inheritance tax -- and in the meantime they can have a direct outsized impact on governments that help them accumulate more power and wealth! Win/win!