>>>So, you are advocating for very high federal estate taxes that would take most of the wealth out of a family?
>>
>>I'm advocating for reasonable federal estate taxes with a high enough threshold that most families wouldn't be affected. I'd also like to see the threshold indexed for inflation.
>>
>>http://wills.about.com/od/understandingestatetaxes/a/historicalestatetaxchart.htm and wills.about.com/od/understandingestatetaxes/a/estatetaxchart.htm show that since it was enacted, both the threshold and the tax rate have varied. I haven't the time to see how the thresholds compare when corrected for inflation. The top rate shown of 77% seems high to me. I haven't really thought about what the right number is, but I think it probably should be comparable to the top income tax bracket.
>
>Why have any threshold at all?
>Why not just take the entire part of every estate?
>The owner is dead, he won't care.

Because that's not the point. Pretty much every time money changes hands, we tax it. So when money changes hands from the deceased to the beneficiary, we should tax it. Like all other taxes, it should be reasonable.

Tamar