Reply #69: its not about the 10% - - see post 52

[votingupstart]

i don't care if they did anything/nothing to "earn it" that is not the question. how can you "earn" something that is a gift? Inheritance is a gift. where i have a problem is when we take that 10% and just because we think someone is "rich" we say oh well because you are "rich" you should pay 90% and makes the tax a punitive one, who defines what rich is? are we adjusting for inflation? how are the formulas developed? are we looking at total asset value? what about mortgages and depreciating assets? how do you factor these in? I am not advocating an end to the death tax - i am all for a tax on income, and if you get money from an individual you have income so you pay taxes. what i am saying is that the government does not have the best track record with taxation principals or implementations. i am concerned that what we consider rich today may be viewed as middle class in 20 years (ie AMT) and due to inaction begins to affect the middle class (ie AMT).