Richard Epstein, responding to Paul Krugman’s Op-Ed in the New York Times, defends the Republic position on unemployment benefits, the estate tax and health care. With regard to the estate tax he writes: So let’s start with the estate tax and ask whether a tax that exempts 99.75%, of all estates, as the Democrats propose, [...]
Also taggedPaul L. Caron, the TaxProf blogger, provided the following chart from a 2006 article by Joshua S. Gans and Andrew Leigh, “Toying with Death and Taxes: Some Lessons from Down Under”. The chart purports to show that a significant number of the deaths in Australia were shifted from the week before to the week after July 1, 1979, the [...]
Also taggedThe House of Representatives passed H.R. 4154 on December 3, 2009. The bill freezes the estate tax exclusion at $3.5 million with a maximum tax rates of 45%.
Also tagged legislationAnalysis of an interview with Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, discussing the estate tax and the moral obligation of the wealthy to society. Should Warren Buffett’s philanthropy be done on a taxable basis?
Also tagged Bill Gates, luck, Warren Buffett, wealthMy recent post, Tough luck for dumb luck, linked an article by Robert H. Frank which disagreed with the contentions that the tax system strains the vital connection between individual effort and reward. Robert H. Frank argued that luck contributed heavily to success, and that “well-paid Americans owe an enormous, if rarely acknowledged, debt to [...]
Also tagged luck, wealthI previously linked several editorials arguing for and against the estate tax. A frequent argument in favor of lower taxes, heard again at the recent anti-tax tea parties, is that taxing income and wealth strains the relationship between effort and reward. Higher taxes are a disincentive to working hard. The New York Times recently published [...]
Also tagged luck, wealthWith the estate tax to be repealed at the end of 2009 unless new legislation is passed, the political debate over the economic and moral value of the estate tax is being renewed. The Senate Finance Committee is considering the Baucus proposal, which I wrote about last week. The House Ways and Means Committee is [...]
Also tagged public policySenate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) recently announced proposed legislation that would amend the tax code. Among other provisions, the bill, known as “The Taxpayer Certainty and Relief Act of 2009,” (S. 722) would implement some much-discussed and anticipated changes to the federal gift and estate tax law. The last major change to the [...]
Also tagged Estate Planning, legislation, marital deduction
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