Oooo…SMACKDOWN! Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Novakula! Buffett is a far better man than Novak could ever aspire to be, because he understands that money should be considered a means to an end — a tool to be used, preferably for the enrichment of others and not just oneself — not an end in itself.

What you’re referring to I can’t know because you appear to quote something or someone w/o attribution. I realize somebody like Victor Davis Hanson is your idea of an historian but don’t emulate him by leaving out who gave you the information that you parrot. Oh, and simply repeating something you”heard” doesn’t make it true the second time anymore than the first.

As you know, I’m sure, the deceased has someone, either the executor of the estate or the surviving spouse, fill out and file a Form 1040 and write deceased at the top. See. it’s almost as if the dead person may have to pay tax even though they’re dead! Now, follow that logic, I know it’s hard for you, and you’ll see that the estate of the dead person (like a corporation, sort of) has to pay a tax on the assets owned by the estate.

No points for even trying since you just said the same thing a second time.

Lies? You must have missed that this was 2006 IRS Tax Data taken directly from the Tax Stats link on the IRS site. It’s an Excel file. You could find it yourself. But I guess you want to rely on an (unattributed I notice) article you had someone read to you.

Nice try. Play again sometime.

I have a solution: a wealthy person is buried with all their wealth. The stuff that won’t fit in the pyramid is auctioned off and the proceeds lining the sarcophagus.
Then the passageway is sealed and thousands of asps (very dangerous) are put in the central chamber.

Thus the rich have their reward. And if, later, the Federal Reserve sees fit to print more money to offset the reduction in the money supply, why, that’s only prudent monetary policy.

And the heirs? They have all the largesse the wealthy person gave them when they were alive and able to act on their intentions.

For the 2006 tax year, 49,050 estate tax returns were filed and of those 22,798 were taxable. Total estate tax due (all figures are estimates based on sample) was $24.6 billion.

The exclusion isn’t necessarily fixed at $2 million; for 2006, 819 estates valued under $1.5 million paid $89 million in net estate taxes.

I’d agree with the evil guy from earlier who doubted the “less than 1%” of the super-rich pay the estate tax line. I suspect that it was just a mistake.

Comment by Southern Man — November 19, 2007 @ 3:25 pm

You lost me at the “and you still have to pay taxes on that fifty thousand a year.” If you inherit four million dollars, once you pay the inheritance tax on it, the rest is yours. You don’t have to pay further taxes on it every year.

You DO have to pay taxes on any interest you earn from investing that money, and you DO have to pay sales tax on anything you buy with that money.

Comment by JMOHR

Yes, and having been finally caught out in his lies he has promptly disappeared.

Pretty sure that’s worded incorrectly. “Less than 1 percent of the nation’s taxpayers pay the estate tax.”, maybe?

This is pretty basic copy-editor stuff.

Comment by DigDug — November 19, 2007 @ 3:38 pm

Let’s say he does pay 75% in taxes, though I don’t believe he knows what he pays. It’s still not enough tax. The Bush govt is still pissing away so much money that they’re not taxing the people enough to pay their bills. Now SouthernMan doesn’t sound like this $4m inheritance is coming anytime soon. Nor does he sound like he’s making millions. So why would he fight the repeal of the estate tax when the alternative is to increase his personal taxes?

The vast majority of Republican voters aren’t millionaires. Yet they support a govt that doesn’t give a shit about them. I believe they do because they hold onto this American dream that someday they’ll be a millionaire and they don’t want to have to pay taxes when they get to that place. It’s laughable that people can vote for a party that turns around and screws them.

Yes, all SouthernMan’s numbers are very suspect. Infact, I think he’s simply making them up.

I’m waiting for him to explain how he pays 75% of his income in taxes.

I think my eyes would have glazed over after finding out I was getting nearly 2 million dollars.

Also, oh darn, I only have roughly 50k a year to live off of. That’s more than enough to live off of. Especially if you invest it, and/or don’t quite your current job for a few years to build up more investment/retirement funds. Think about it, you could put your entire current paycheck into investments for 10 years, and retire on 100k a year instead of 50.

Comment by Southern Man — November 19, 2007 @ 3:25 pm

Ok, now all of your numbers are suspect. The estate tax is 30% on everything over $2m. So on a $4m estate the tax would be $600k leaving you $3.4m. Hardly less then $2m. If you were left with $3.4m you could invest it. Let’s say you invest it in equities and they grow 7% a year. If you don’t sell any you pay no tax since there is no capital gain until you sell. If you sell enough to generate $50k in living expenses you would pay next to nothing in tax since the bulk of the $50k is your original principal, which is tax paid. So if your estate grew 7% and you took out $50k you’d be paying tax on a capital gain tax on $3,271 of the $50k. Chump change. Less then a grand. I think you’d be ok.

Comment by Southern Man

http://www.moneychimp.com/features/tax_brackets.htm
If your taxable income is between… your tax bracket is:
174,850 and above = 35%

I make about 100k+ a year and I pay about 35%

There is no way you pay 75%

Comment by Southern Man — November 19, 2007 @ 3:13 pm

Bullshit.

Comment by Southern Man

So… you are earning in the top 2% nationwide(since you said you’re paying 75% in taxes–yeah right) and you’re having a hard time making ends meet?

I don’t make that much, or pay that much in taxes, and I live in california(one of the most exspensive places to live) and I’m living quite comfortably. I suspect you’re not being honest about any of these numbers.

Do you have an estate worth over 2 million dollars? If you answer “no” then you own NO ESTATE TAX AT ALL!

If you answer “yes”, then do you think you accumulated that money all by your lonesome with no assistance by the government? You know, the one that makes sure you are protected by the police and the military, and that keep competition from illegally ruining your business.

Don’t you think you might owe something for all that protection? Does 30% of anything over 2 million seem like you’re going to go broke just paying for the estate tax?

If you answer “yes” to this last question then you don’t know math very well at all, and would probably end up trying to send money to the next e-mail asking for donations from some other country, and you don’t deserve the money you’ve already got.