and we should eliminate trusts.

My uncles farm is worth 2ish mil.....but it's mostly land, bldgs, machinery, livestock, but not a lot of cash. I doubt he has $90k banked because that's how it works in Ag.
Do my cousins have to sell off half the place to pay the 100% ?

sell the farm and pocket $1M tax free.

like that many of us ever ever see a bank balance of $1,000,000.

I'm pretty sure your cousins will be just fine.

$166k....then what? This is a 3 gen farm.
4 have Ag degrees....thinking the farm stays in the family.
The ONLY life/home they have ever known.....gone.

coal miners are crying because nobody wants dirty coal now.

Bookstore owners? LOL

why should farmers be any different than anyone else?

And $166K tax free is nothing to sneeze at... and it's not my fault they had 6 children.

And, as another person points out on this thread, the current law ($5M instead of the $1M) has a lot of exemptions for family farms.

By the way, I grew up on a family farm in Kansas. My mom sold the farm when there wasn't anyone left to run it (my brother having died in the Navy way back when).

Anyway... how about this...

$1M tax free for each person inheriting the farm, limited to either direct heirs (children or grandchildren) to a limit of, say, $5M.

The sixth cousin will have to work out a deal.

" My mom sold the farm when there wasn't anyone left to run it"
Her choice.
There are people left to run my uncles.....but not under your plan.

You think $166k is big money? How far would that go in a family of 4-5? My cousins have kids.
Have to find a new place to live, have to find new jobs, have to buy new vehicles to get to the new jobs to afford the new place to live.....
My 401 is about $150k....I can't retire on that.

$166K isn't big money? Tax free? Seriously?

But let's see, there are six GROWN adults here with families... do they all live on the farm? And the farm is running so bad that they couldn't buy cars for themselves or save any money?

Doesn't sound like it's a good idea for them to keep the farm anyway... and what will they do when those children (the grandkids) grow up and want to be farmers too?

Regroup, take a breath, and rethink this before more call outs hit this.

Saying it's a family LLC doesn't really mean anything.

If they wanted to have private assets, all they had to do was declare a dividend, pay the long term cap gains on the money (18% right now) and go buy themselves a car or pay a mortgage.

The rest of us that work for employers have to pay regular income tax rates.

But you didn't answer the question... the 6 cousins... are they over 18 (or 21)? You say they have children... so where do they all live (since you indicate that they would have to go out and buy a house, the implication is that they live on the property)?

Last, what is the end game here? How many generations would you reasonably expect to make at living on this farm? You see, unless they exhibit some extraordinary self-control, eventually the farm (even passed tax-free from generation to generation) won't support all of the likely inheritors. So then what? Would they buy out the children who decide to move out? With what money (since they have almost no liquid assets now)?

"are they over 18 (or 21)? "....
Yes. A couple cousins have kids in college now.

"..so where do they all live..(..the implication is that they live on the property) " It's NOT an implication.....they live on the farm property....part of the value of the property.

"How many generations would you reasonably expect to make at living on this farm? "
I would say as MANY as they can make it a productive, sustainable way of life. That's not for you or me to decide.
They can expand if they wish, lots of adjoining unused property.. thus adding to the local, state, and Fed tax base.

much earlier in this discussion, you implied strongly that they have NO money (after all the $166K that they each get from the sale of the farm would be the ONLY money they have to buy houses and cars).

But now they can expand the family farm by purchasing adjoining lands so that they may sustain this for more generations of children?

Will they borrow that money? Put up the farm as collateral?

Don't bother... it isn't that interesting. Either they have money in the LLC now or they don't and the only stuff they have is a crowded farm house and a bunch of farm equipment and pickup trucks. If they have money in the LLC then they can pay taxes on it, sell the farm, and collect $166K tax free (if we capped it at $1M). If they pay out from the LLC it will NOT be part of the estate (presuming they were all smart enough to add themselves as shareholders). In fact, since they have the LLC, presuming that they did some estate planning and all became equal partners with their parents, they could sell the farm, add that money to the LLC and then pass the ENTIRE proceeds to themselves at long term cap gains rate, including any money already in the LLC.

Anyway, the family farm has been put up as a "straw man" argument against keeping the "death tax" by the repukes for at least 30 years now. Numerous studies have shown that this really doesn't affect THAT many family farms (with the estate tax as it is today).

"you implied strongly that they have NO money"
If you read what I posted..... I said..."I doubt he has $90k banked because that's how it works in Ag" He....my uncle

You are something...

I see nothing wrong with the 5.5 million dollar starting point. I think we all should encourage relatively small business to remain on ongoing concern. These are places of employment for lots of people.

Now, what i could buy, is that kids inherit a $4 million dollar small business, have no interest in running it, and sell it for the cash.

I could see setting a limit on how long the business is maintained as a going concern, like 5 years or something. Don't want to run the business you inherited for 5 years, then you pay taxes on the sale. Hold on to the business into the future for at least 5 years, good, You're keeping a business going and keeping people employed.

Lastly, you have know way of knowing how much of that money, even if now in a trust, was post-tax. What you're proposing turns it into exactly what the R's call the present plan. It's a tax on dying. There is absolutely zero way to sell such punitive taxation to the american people.

Should the children of rich people, who start off life with enormous advantages already (better health care, better education, gifts from their rich parents along the way, etc) be given enormous amounts of money tax free that they didn't earn ONLY because of their DNA?

The biggest problem that we face today are people like the Koch brothers and their ilk, they are the product of immense accumulated wealth. They want to preserve and expand this accumulation for generations to come thereby creating a permanent class system.

You want to see what happens in such a society... there are many examples around the world.

We created a giant middle class by rewarding hard work and with labor unions. That middle class (ok, it was racist) was dominant in the 1950s and 1960s. A millionaire was the equivalent of a billionaire today ( but while there has been inflation, it certainly hasn't been that extreme).

You said everything over a million, and your example is the Koch brothers? They inherited HUNDREDS of millions. Not a million.

And nothing you said is going to convince me that we should not be encouraging heirs to maintain small businesses as an ongoing concern. It's macroeconomically sound.

Can't believe that I have to defend the CONCEPT of estate taxes on a democratic board.

You don't like the $1M cap... fine... leave the law as is.

THEY WANT TO ELIMINATE IT... and raise taxes on people like ME to pay for it.

So yeah, I'm feeling a bit peeved today... because I think this piss poor excuse of a "cut cut cut" bill has a better than even chance of passing.

And, conceptually, I don't believe in the concept of inherited wealth.

De-tangle that from you poor cousins and their family farm.

So while your cousins (who are NOT in any danger of paying estate taxes today) will enjoy a future knowledge that should they pool their money and win the lotto, they will be able to leave THEIR children those 10s of millions tax free, you and I and everyone else that makes an OK living will see our taxes go UP to pay for this.

And yes, in general, I don't want to see anyone get all that much from a relative's estate tax-free or otherwise... I would like to think that we all start out on more or less equal footing. I would like to see all of our children go to very good schools and enjoy decent health care. I would like to see that the warehouse worker and the janitor make something like ONLY 30 or 40 times less than the CEO.

And I'm not even a communist.

I am not in favor of the plan. But there is an economic middle ground between confiscatory and double taxation policies as the one you posited and accepting massive cuts for billionaires.

In fact there's about 100 light years between them. Plenty of common ground in that 586 trillion miles to settle on.

That is a right wing talking point.

Go read this article - (point 5 is all about your double taxation).

https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/ten-facts-you-should-know-about-the-federal-estate-tax

Ali Velsher on MSNBC went almost ballistic this morning when someone (KC?) repeated that BS.

Most of the inheritable wealth in this country is on things that have increased in value since their purchase. Even if the dear departed cashed these in before leaving it in an estate to their relatives, they would only pay llong-termcap gains on it (18% right now).

So the vast majority of this wealth has never been taxed. So the estate tax is the FIRST bite of the apple.

As for confiscatory... other than our famous example of the family farm where the children worked hard to increase the value of the farm, there really isn't any reason that children of the people who made the money have any more right to it than the government.

If all billionaires were like Gates and Buffet (who have both stated that they are not leaving all that much to their children) and put the bulk of their estates into charities... we wouldn't have this discussion. But what we have are a bunch of billionaires that want to create the class of Oligarchs in this country (Trump, Koch, many many others).

to the estate?

I have yet to see your explanation of this.

All taxation is social engineering.

Tax income but not capital gains at the same rate (encourage investments).

Housing mortgage deduction (encourage home ownership).

Property Taxes (encourages owners to upkeep their property).

Taxes also pay for services.

And, yes, taxes redistribute wealth.

Think of it this way... the taxes redistributed from the wealthy to the poor or middle class are a major way to cause money circulation in the economy. We are a demand-driven economy (we have enough labor and enough capital). To stimulate demand, you have to give money to people who will spend it... that's not the wealthy. They will invest if they see demand... but sit on their money (there are only so many yachts and houses and cars that one can reasonably buy) otherwise. Moving this money back to the middle and bottom of the economy is a way to stimulate growth. This is the fundamental reason that we all do better when Democrats are in charge... call it trickle up economics. As we have seen over and over again, the republicans with trickle down cause wealth stagnation. Wealth is transferred to the upper 1% (or .1%) and it typically stays there. Right now interest rates are at historic lows... does anyone think that if a company wanted to expand production in the nation that they wouldn't be able to lay their hands on MONEY to make that expansion happen? Fuck no. So giving the rich more of "their" money is not sound economic policy. Giving their money to the poor or the middle class would stimulate the shit out of things. Usually, we do this "giving" by means of raising taxes on the wealthy and reducing taxes or making more services "free" ( like education and health care ) for the poor and middle class.

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

Your(!) original proposal makes it sublimely unlikely that all that money went into a "trust" pre-tax.

And you've done it again. You proposed ONE MILLION dollars and then your examples are the Kochs, Gates, Buffett.

Your moving the goalposts because you have an argument with no merit from a wide view of economics.

You have already defeated your own argument. So, i'm done because that would just be piling on.

But, you go ahead and continue to be completely wrong. It's your right.

and leave the rest alone.

The inheritance tax includes assets such as machinery, buildings, land, equipment, etc. needed to run the business. You cannot pay taxes on those unless you sell them, effectively destroying the business.

We cannot screech about how we should support small businesses and then destroy them when the owner dies. Family businesses are just that. FAMILY businesses. Not yours, not mine, not the feds.

OK?

4. Only a Handful of Small, Family-Owned Farms and Businesses Owe Any Estate Tax

And the number they cite is 80. That it EIGHTY farms that owe any estate tax.

https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/ten-facts-you-should-know-about-the-federal-estate-tax

Of course, feel free to cite your own study that refutes this one.

"there really isn't any reason that children of the people who made the money have any more right to it than the government. "

not by any labor, not by any merit, only because they are born into a family that can pass down 10s of millions to 10s of billions to their offspring?

Yup... I claim that is immoral.

Besides, the current law allows them $5M tax free and the rest taxed at estate tax rate.

And with trusts and other instruments available to the rich, many avoid much of that tax now. But wonderful news... soon they can avoid it all and without all the bother of trust funds and lawyers.

I'm good with leaving the current law alone (yes, I was angry at the stupid fucks on my TeeVee telling me how great it was that the Repukes are eliminating the "death tax&quot .

Anyway, I guess we should all simply strive to join the US Oligarchy (the actual New World Order).

I can't wait for my invitation to Davos.

I'm sure we can continue this there (since, obviously, you will be there too).

Oh, wait, neither of us inherited a billion tax free dollars (that were NEVER taxed), we just had to pay more of our income so they could afford this (my combined state and federal marginal rate of 46 percent now, but with my soon to disappear state tax deduction, I got to keep another $4,000 or so).

I'm so glad that I could offer up my one and only deduction on my federal taxes so these rich fucks could avoid all estate taxes.

You don't like the replies you received....the examples of why it's a horrible idea.

what you and what, one or two other posters write in reply.

You are buying into the argument that "family farms" need estate tax relief.

I posted research saying they don't (all 80 such family farms under current law).

I posted a bit of hyperbole about lowering it to $1M from $5M... and 100% taxation rate after that because I really DON'T believe that anyone should be able to leave that much money to their children.

There are even other ways to transfer wealth to children (even adult children) that I did not mention... tax free... like an annual gift of what $20K per child? And yes, that can be shares in an LLC if it is assets you want to gift and not cash.

But the fuckers you seem to be ready to defend with right wing talking points about family farms are poised to do a massive tax giveaway on this type of tax... and because the only way they can get this done is pass it with budget reconciliation, they have to pay for it by raising my taxes because I happen to live in a Blue State with a high income tax rate (CA). They want to eliminate my ability to save a modest amount of money on my federal return by deducting my state tax.

I'm happy to pay my fair share. I'm pretty damn sure I've paid more than my fair share over the years. But not to give millionaires and billionaires more tax breaks.

" But the fuckers you seem to be ready to defend with right wing talking points..."
Ok...my family is "fuckers" and you getting a lesson in small family owned business is a right wing talking point....got it.

This is why we can't have nice things....ignorance and arrogance.

that the fuckers are the KGOP now proposing to eliminate the estate tax.

Your defense of keeping the estate tax (and making sure it isn't modified to be even larger than it currently is) by dredging up the right wing talking point of the "it's the family farm" is why we can't have nice things.

Increasing the estate tax to 100% over a certain amount would pay for universal health care (for starters).

100% over $1mil....

Prove it newbie!
I've been here since early 2001!
Your argument is devoid of intellectual merit!
First rule of getting out of a hole is to quit fucking digging!
Quit fucking digging!
If your last argument is I(!) am KGOP, you're done
Time to go back to FR for you!

I didn't say YOU were the GOP.

I said that the "fuckers" in my previous post were GOP.

You asserted that I was implying that you were one of the fuckers.

And you know perfectly well that I'm not a newbie. Been here since 2004.

We don't. That's a fact of life. My cousins don't live like I do and we are family.

You say..... "And, conceptually, I don't believe in the concept of inherited wealth."

What about an inherited life? Farm kids inherit that life and everything that goes with it. Good crop yrs, bad crop yrs...all the while paying the taxes.

People don't seem to get that much of this 'value' is tied up in assets needed to run the business.

They don't have cash sitting around collecting dust.

Second, family farms for the most part are not 100% owned by any one person. Only the share that the deceased owned would be subject to the estate tax. The shares not from the deceased are not touched.
Third, the threshold for the estate tax is $5 million. Might be more now.
Fourth, back to the second with not 100% owned. The spouse has the ability to use a special provision.


Lastly, the inheritors didn't earn any of it. They weren't taxed on it. Even if it was taxed the tax wasn't on their income. It was a tax on the estate before it changed hands.

Hell, has never taken a loan to buy anything for the place. If it was PIF it never hit the property.

2nd....I'm addressing lapfogs metric.....see his-her answer....
"cry me a river
sell the farm and pocket $1M tax free.
like that many of us ever ever see a bank balance of $1,000,000."

I'm only addressing lapfogs idea of how the estate tax..Should be.

You stated it is worth about $2 million. Well below the threshold.

Then there is a special provision for family farms if an estate tax is involved.

Anyone inheriting the farm didn't earn it.

If your uncle is married there is another special provision that increases the threshold.

That's what I was addressing....not EXISTING laws....ONLY lap's proposal.

To answer you......"Anyone inheriting the farm didn't earn it. "
Really? Those kids did chores on that farm since they were fresh out of cloth diapers. That was their only "job" their entire life. That farm was the 1st earned money I ever had....loading hay during summers.
Proceeds from that farm paid for their education, both k-12 and college.

""Anyone inheriting the farm didn't earn it. " If NOT the cousins...who?
My aunt died in '95 so it's been Unc and the kids.

My point was that after each person inheirits $1M tax free, that should be it.

To make it reasonable I limited it to a total of $5M tax free, very similar to the law today.

The difference is that for those billionaires (who already have a lot of ways to avoid the "death tax" today)... that they can't leave billions to their children. Even today all the children have to do is pay the estate tax. I want them to not inherit billions even after the estate tax.

Mostly I don't want people like me (living almost paycheck to paycheck) to pay to cut the taxes of these vampires.

BTW, very happy for you $150K retirement fund. You are doing much better than the average.

Which means you got paid. Just because you worked on the farm doesn't mean you should get something for nothing. Not when you are paid wages or other renumeration for your time and work. It doesn't entitle you or others to a share of the farm or business unless you are a partner in the business. Otherwise, they are only at best employees. And employees don't have ownership unless there is a legal arrangement of some sort.

The income you earned while on the farm is for the work you did. Those chores as kids you talk about provide a roof over them, meals, clothing, etc.

I did chores as a city boy. But that didn't entitle me to a share of my parent's estate. Nor did it entitle me to a share of my grandparent's estate when I stayed during the summers in the country. When I picked cucumbers or strawberries on the one I was compensated with cash. When I harvested tobacco I didn't get a share of my father's friend's farm. I was paid for my time.

I don't care what lapdog's responses are at this time. Because you still have it wrong under existing laws.

Uncle Sam?

Why?

I got paid squat for stacking hay....it was summer vacation to go to the farm and we earned a few bucks....in the 60's-'70s....

My education had nothing to do with the farm... I don't live in the same state...never have.
I get squat if the farm would be sold...except great memories of learning how they work and a work ethic....and a calf I helped when it's mom died at birth.

Geesh! Are you sure you belong here?

I have to ask because you appear confused.

So your uncle is safe.

The GOP frames the estate tax as the death tax so people will assume that it affects every estate.

current tax law.
I believe his/her proposal sucks for the reasons stated above.

Considering the dollar is so devalued and real estate is so over inflatted.

Breaking the cycle of inherited wealth translating into power would be great. Taxing it in a coherent manner is one avenue of attack.

No?

Then why would you give a fuck?

about approaching these people. Then ask them if they want to cut Medicare and Social Security for themselves or their elderly relatives to pay for it.

a party of Joe the Plumbers.

They likely don't even realize its a tax on estate value ABOVE 5 million.

ignorant of macroeconomics?

I'm not asking you - I'm asking the Hypothetical Ignorant Voter.

DU is so literal.

"Then why the fuck do you care if they are cut?"

Yeah, great argument.

The rethugs are all taking turns on TV to tell us how wonderful this thing is, it is all going to be milk and honey from hereon in.
I guess the corps are going to lose all the tax write-offs that lower taxes for them now. Have they said what this will do to the deficit
and how long are our kids going to be paying for it?

If they are willfully ignorant, don't bother. You'll have more luck teaching calculus to a pig.

If they are genuinely ignorant and curious about the truth, well that's easier. Point out the actual parameters of the suggested law and they should see the truth.

The estate tax starts at estates over $5.45 million. If you have an estate that is $5,450,010.00, you only pay the estate tax on $10. There are virtually no small farmers that are affected by this tax.

My father worked in the farm industry dealing with farmers in a large county for over 35 years. Before he died I asked him this question. And he stated that there was not one farm in the county that was impacted by the estate tax. The county is nearly rural with the two largest cities having populations under 65,000. He knew every farmer in the county and dealt with them regularly.

The remainder is taxed at xx%.

Everyone who receives revenue, and even a gift, has to pay taxes on that income.

If I paint my Father's house and he pays me $5,000, I have to declare that as income.

If a rich Father passes away and leaves his son money in his will, that's money that changes hands. He's receiving income for just being born to a wealthy family. He doesn't even have to paint the house. He should pay taxes on that income.

The current law exempts the first $5.5 million in inheritance. Isn't that enough?

and you have to declare each job as income, the fact that your Father is a customer does not exempt you from taxes.

If you are an electrician, and wire your father's house and get paid, you have to declare that income. most won't, but you are still legally obligated to do so.

and giving members of the lucky sperm club inherent advantages in life, eliminating the estate tax would hurt every American except the wealthy.

That is the purpose of the Estate tax, to work against creating an Aristocracy.

Passing power down to inbred children of the rich is not a good system, unless you happen to be heir to vast wealth.

Idiot scions? Inbred children?

Have you ever heard of a family business?

I don't think many of the responses in this thread are being made by people who understand family businesses or farming.

I am not sure if it is worth explaining it to them. I like learning from DU and reading the news here. But some people need to read and listen a lot more.

And show that the GOP know exactly what they're doing and will be laughing all the way to the bank.

I have no problem keeping it where it is. I grew up on a farm in ND. Five kids. We inherited a farm worth over a million. That's not abnormal in that part of the country. The $5 million-ish limit should cover family farms and family owned small businesses.

stemmed from the person above that said that the tax should be 100% over 1 million. That got a lot of responses of not being cool and it seems people have taken those responses as support for doing away with the estate tax completely.

I think 5.5 million is a fair amount. But this isn't my forte.

Only the share owned by the deceased is affected.

King Charles IX of France?
King Carlos II of Spain?
King Charles VI of France?

How many family businesses can you cite that exceed $10 million dollars? Is it coincidence that some billionaires (IMO, wise ones) set up trust funds for their children, but don't give them the whole thing?

Since you don't know where to start, maybe you should educate yourself before appearing to claim that Aristocracy is a good thing?

Wow. Try some caffeine, I don't think you are quite awake yet.

I point out that the estate tax is to work against unworthy children of the rich and powerful taking that power and using it badly. That the rich and powerful in the past have concentrated that power by intermarrying to disastrous result.

You admit that you are ignorant of that, with your apparent desire to remove the Estate tax. I'm saying that it should not be removed, and you exaggerate and suggest that I'm saying that it should be 100%. Hint: Work against does not imply eliminate.

You seem to be falling into the category that the OP is asking about. Maybe try going back and read that OP.

What, you decided that breaking out a thesaurus could make you sound smart? That an armchair warrior claim of being on Jeopardy! would bolster your claim?

You appeared to be totally unaware that Aristocracy has provided some bad results, Googling in the last hour doesn't make you that much smarter.

Do you mean to make the claim that an Estate tax does absolutely nothing to deter an Aristocracy? That's what you appear to have been arguing. Your sole claim in support of an Estate tax is in your last post, so please explain how I could misread that, you have been taking a negative position towards an Estate Tax since saying that you don't know where to begin.

I may have been remiss in not explicitly saying part of the reason for an Estate tax is reducing Aristocracy. I can see how one could could think that implies I stated that it is the only reason. That doesn't, however, call for a diatribe against the estate tax, only to claim that you are for it after the resemblance to the OP is apparent.

"..the estate tax is to work against unworthy children of the rich..."
I can't find.. in the Tax code ...the unworthy section.

Could you point that out to me.

Could you point out the section of the tax code that codifies all the right-wing talking points for getting rid of the estate tax? That it is there to punitively take money away from small family businesses and farms? While I'm guessing that you can quote every single RW talking point, You won't find them in the tax code. Aw gee, it's supposed to be there, according to you...

The Paris Hilton tax.

It is intended to prevent one crime family from accumulating infinite wealth and taking over the country.

The average American works for their money and pays taxes in the process. These people don’t work for the money they receive and they will not be paying any taxes for it.

We need to use the Republican playbook against repealing the estate tax. Why should hard working Americans pay taxes while trust fund millionaires pay no taxes?

Somewhere between the 98th and 99th percentile is where net worth crosses the 5m mark.
https://dqydj.com/net-worth-brackets-wealth-brackets-one-percent/

So round it up to 2% of americans are affected by the estate tax.

zeros.

The estate tax was implemented to avoid wealthy families from turning into de facto lords, similar to what you have in a monarchy.

there is a limited exemption for annual gifts and a bigger one-time lifetime exemption, but generally speaking, any transfer of wealth is taxable, even gifts (beyond the exemption).

why on earth should heirs who are getting a windfall of millions and millions (there's no tax on estates under about $5 million) get special tax treatment??

there is zero ethical or economic reason for doing this repealing the estate tax, and considerable ethical and economic reason not to.

the *only* reason it's even being considered is because the ultra-rich people affected by this donate heavily to politicians.

repealing the estate tax one of the most brazenly corrupt ideas they've come up with yet.

Donnie can't directly affect state taxes, but he's surely got cronies looking to do that....

Generally multi-millionaires got their wealth from the hard work of other people that they exploited. They got their wealth by being fortunate enough to be born in this country. It is their patriotic duty to give back that wealth to allow our entire country to thrive.

They use investment vehicles like trusts to shield their money. Bill Gates’s, Trump’s, and everyone else’s family that’s that rich will never pay a dime in taxes when the main benefactor dies.

All of Trump’s money is tied up in the Trump organization. All of Gates’s money is in the Gates Foundation. The inheritors are then considered employees and board members of that organization, which will buy and sell property, pay expenses, etc.

Ivanka Trump herself doesn’t own jack shit. She directs the portion of money under her purview into investment opportunities she chooses to invest in. It’s a pain in the ass. Accountants make a lot of money to put it there, but that money is shielded from tax collectors.

In addition, their money is taxed at the corporate rate, which is about to be lowered to 20%.

Which phrase below best explains R policies to the average taxpayer?:

1. Republican tax cuts favor the top 1% of earners, or,

2. Unless you are making $250,000 a year, you will get no benefit from Republican policies

that doesn't directly affect you.

if youre assets - your debts are over 5.5 million at your time of death whatever is over that 5.5 million gets taxed. the 1st 5 million is tax free.

But I'm an "elitist" if I call them stupid.

it was 5.25 million in 2013; for 2018,estates valued below $5.6 million dollars will be unaffected by the tax. Married couples can combine on this; so a husband and wife can ensure that the first $11 million or so of their estate will be unaffected by the tax

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/estate-tax
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-many-people-pay-estate-tax

Stereotyping....wouldn't be my go to but...hey run with it.