To: michael97123 who wrote (109356 ) 4/15/2005 3:45:52 PM From: TimF Read Replies (1) | Respond to The most commonly heard argument against the estate tax - that it represents unfair double taxation - is specious. First, the estate tax does not even kick in until the assets left at death exceed $1.5 million, or $3 million per married couple - and those exemption amounts will more than double by 2009. Second, much of the wealth transferred at death has never been taxed. That's because capital gains on assets like houses, stocks and bonds are not taxed until the asset is sold. Obviously, if you inherit, say, a house, its owner didn't sell it, so never paid any capital gains tax on it. Another popular argument against the estate tax - that the rate is so high the government is basically confiscating your property - is also a sham. Estate tax rates currently top out at 47 percent. But those rates don't even start to apply until an estate tops the multimillion-dollar exemption. As a result of the exemption and other deductions, the effective tax rate - the percentage that is actually handed over to the government - is much lower than the top stated rate. It was only 18.8 percent, on average, in 2003, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
