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Cameron acknowledges that "death tax" is "what critics call" the estate tax

April 02, 2009 7:35 pm ET

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Previously:

Adopting GOP-promoted term, Fox News repeatedly refers to estate tax as "death tax"

County Fair: Fox's Henneberg repeatedly refers to estate tax as "death tax"

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    • Author by carlileb5935 (April 02, 2009 9:51 pm ET)
         
      I thought it was the other way around...oh well.
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    • Author by Dem02020 (April 03, 2009 2:07 am ET)
         

      Why shouldn't Income received from Estates be taxed liked most other Income is?

      That's the question. And if asked that way, the answer is likely to be "there's no reason why Income from Estates should not be taxed like all other Income is."

       

      Hey, you want to discuss this in an insightful manner?

      The question isn't truly why or why not Income from Estates is taxed or not: that's really a no-brainer...

      The true question is why are Estates taxed as Income, as though they were cash Income received, when in fact they may be Real Estate (most likely) or any other non-cash property, such as antiques or jewelry or works of art?

      If you have any experience at all in these kinds of things, then you immediately know what I'm getting at: but for all others, it's a bit troubling sometimes to receive an Estate inheritance of property, such as Real Estate etc., and be taxed on it as though it were cash....

      It puts you to the terrible difficulty often, of trying to either raise the cash to pay the tax (again, the Estate is not cash itself), or of selling and liquidating the property received, just so as to be able to pay the tax on it.

      And that problem of finding the cash to pay the Estate tax on an Estate that is not cash itself, is compounded when you are forced to sell or liquidate the Estate to find that cash, because of the fact you are forced to sell or liquidate under a time constraint, versus the much better circumstance of selling only when the time seems right, or a good offer is made.

      Anyway, I'd rather see that problem addressed, than see this stupid bull about should Estates be considered taxable Income: it's a no-brainer, of course they should!

      But should all Estates be taxed as though cash were received, when in fact it might be Real Estate or other non-cash property?

      Could such non-cash Estates be instead considered a Capital Gain, to be taxed when that property is sold or liquidated?

       

      Alas, the media is a moron's forum, and real Policy questions and problems and solutions are not found there...

      Only moronic stuff, like "death tax".

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      • Author by Dem02020 (April 03, 2009 2:45 am ET)
           

        Over on the other side of the Police ledger, I just saw an item that also involves the Estate Tax, where media hacks were invoking farms and farmers, and how the Estate Tax impacts them.

        It does, and it's true.

        But that doesn't change the fact that the media hacks in question are just slimy rats doing the dirty work of people who aren't farmers and don't own farms, but are happy to have those media hacks invoke farmers and farms for them, as though they would hide behind farmers in this debate.

        It just highlights what I had written above: that non-cash Estates do become a problem sometimes to the recipient, when they cannot find the cash to pay the Estate Tax, and are sometimes forced to sell or liquidate the non-cash Estate in question, which most likely would be Real Estate and might even be a farm (or they are otherwise forced to incur the debt to pay the Tax, in the case of where the farm or other Real Estate is not liquidated).

        Any farmer (including me) will tell you, that they do not wish to evade paying the Estate Tax, or any other Tax that is their fair share, but only that they would rather the Estate be considered a Capital Gain, when it is not cash (as Real Estate is not), and thereby be taxed as Capital Gains are: when they are realized as cash, upon being sold or liquidated.

        This is different though from what the slimy media rats are arguing, and who they're arguing it for (which is not truly farmers): they are arguing for not paying any tax at all on Estates, and doing so for other slimy rats (media hacks included) who simply don't want to pay their fair share of taxes.

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