Bull shit. There is no effective tax until the value of the estate gets over about $3.5 million. And only the amount over $3.5 million is subject to tax. Before it cuts into the value of the estate, it is well over what a rational person would call "middle class".
$3.5 Million for a lifetime accumulation of assets isn't much. By the time one considers a home, a 401k, other savings, everything else, it just doesn't go very far. For sure, we're talking about "upper middle" class, but an estate larger than this is very typical for small business owners, professionals, persons who have inherited property (timberland, royalty interests, commercial property) with the death of their parents, etc.
It is hard to have a small business that one built over a lifetime to come in under this. And the continued existence of the business is often threatened if there isn't some serious liquidity with which to pay the tab.
This valuation is based on the gross estate, and it isn't much money anymore.
Furthermore, the gross estate limitation is reduced by any lifetime gifts that were made. And the states often pile on with estate taxes of their own.
It is a horrible tax in every respect. |
