Estate tax & Trump

[Libertarian666]

The estate tax produces almost no revenue, but causes enormous amounts of legal expenses to those who are in its sights. As with income taxes, what it takes is small compared to what it destroys in the process.

I see no reason for its existence, any more than I do for any other tax.

And I say this as someone who is not going to be affected by it the way that it is today.

[mathjak107]

the dead don't vote .

[I Shrugged]

the dead don't vote .

the dead don't always vote .. but when they do vote they vote democrat .....

^^^ that's a good one!

PS, you and I are in agreement.

The estate tax does not amount to much, but it is a political sales and recruitment point for each side. Symbolism. And it causes a lot of wasteful effort that could be applied more productively elsewhere. Effort in the political realm, and in the realm of estate planning.

[mathjak107]

the biggest issue for many regular folks is not the federal estate taxes , it is state estate taxes which kick in far lower and harder in some states .

[WiseOne]

Great points about the inefficiency of a tax creating a whole industry that sucks up more money than the tax produces, but it's even more interesting than that. I haven't seen many efforts to quantify this, but it appears that state estate taxes may actually lose revenue by driving wealthy seniors out of the state. There are several states with estate taxes that are more onerous than the federal tax - NJ is among them, taxing estates at 16% of the amount over $675K, along with a 10% gift tax.

In the last decade, 2 million New Jersey residents moved to a different state, taking about $70 billion in adjusted gross income with them. Meanwhile, the people who moved into New Jersey brought in $52 billion. That’s a net loss of $18 billion in adjusted gross income, which has resulted in a loss of 75,000 jobs, $11.4 billion in economic output, $4.2 billion in labor income and $8.4 billion in household spending.

https://njbmagazine.com/trenton-talk/ec ... migration/

Of course, states with high estate taxes tend also to have high property, income, and sales taxes, so it's hard to separate out these effects. I do know, however, that New Jersey residents retiring to Florida is so common that it's a cliche, and it's not just for the weather.

[mathjak107]

new jersey finally made changes this year . they had one of the lowest thresholds and started moving in january up to the federal level over the next few years like ny did .

we are at 4 million i think here in ny so far .

[thisisallen]

NJ raised the exemption from $675k to $2 mil this year and in 2018 it is eliminated altogether.
At the same time they raised the gasoline tax by like .23/gal.

[mathjak107]

i hate even traveling to new jersey . our kids live there . the trip there and back is usually stressful and horrible . i always say no wonder they charge you to leave nj.

did new jersey keep the inheritance tax ? they had both an estate tax and an inheritance tax .

[Pointedstick]

NJ raised the exemption from $675k to $2 mil this year and in 2018 it is eliminated altogether.
At the same time they raised the gasoline tax by like .23/gal.

That honestly makes sense to me. Stop taxing something desirable (accumulating wealth) and increase the tax on something bad (burning fossil fuels on dangerous roadways).

[Libertarian666]

Pennsylvania also has a very low inheritance tax threshold, although I forget what it is exactly. Amounts over that threshold are taxed at 4.5% for direct descendants (and I believe other close family members_ and much higher levels for others.

[Libertarian666]

NJ raised the exemption from $675k to $2 mil this year and in 2018 it is eliminated altogether.
At the same time they raised the gasoline tax by like .23/gal.

That honestly makes sense to me. Stop taxing something desirable (accumulating wealth) and increase the tax on something bad (burning fossil fuels on dangerous roadways).

You should know that it is never that simple. No one can know exactly what the unseen effects are, but they are usually of significant magnitude and generally not in line with the stated goal of a change in taxation.

[mathjak107]

we just cleared new yorks tax cliffs . it took a few years and we needed to have disclaimer trusts in place

[Libertarian666]

we just cleared new yorks tax cliffs . it took a few years and we needed to have disclaimer trusts in place

But you still live in NY? Why?

[Pointedstick]

You should know that it is never that simple. No one can know exactly what the unseen effects are, but they are usually of significant magnitude and generally not in line with the stated goal

Yes, such is life as a human.

[mathjak107]

we just cleared new yorks tax cliffs . it took a few years and we needed to have disclaimer trusts in place

But you still live in NY? Why?

i tried to reply but i think i reported your post lol

we live in ny because ny offers all the things we want in retirement . we had a house in the pocono's we were going to retire to .

once we realized mostly everything we wanted in retirement it lacked we decided to retire right here in queens and sold the house .

the biggest reason is our grand kids are here and we are central to them . we have a set in howard beach queens , a set in scarsdale ny and a set in new jersey

[Libertarian666]

we just cleared new yorks tax cliffs . it took a few years and we needed to have disclaimer trusts in place

But you still live in NY? Why?

i tried to reply but i think i reported your post lol

we live in ny because ny offers all the things we want in retirement . we had a house in the pocono's we were going to retire to .

once we realized mostly everything we wanted in retirement it lacked we decided to retire right here in queens and sold the house .

the biggest reason is our grand kids are here and we are central to them . we have a set in howard beach queens , a set in scarsdale ny and a set in new jersey

Ok, that makes sense. Having lived in NY, I would never move back.

[Ad Orientem]

What happened to all of the hyperventilating among Republicans we saw during the Zero Administration over the rising debt? Abolishing the estate tax would massively add to the national debt.

[Libertarian666]

What happened to all of the hyperventilating among Republicans we saw during the Zero Administration over the rising debt? Abolishing the estate tax would massively add to the national debt.

So 0.6% of federal revenue is massive? Eliminating dept of education would probably make up for that.

Actually I was being too conservative. The DoEd spends around $70 billion, and the estate tax raises only about $20 billion. So there would be plenty left over after eliminating both.

[I Shrugged]

There are some R's in Congress who are deficit hawks. They could probably all sit at a picnic table. But they do make noise now and then.