Rep Paul Ryan thinks you should tax income once and never again.

[dkf]

If we don't do a decent job on the economy, THIS is what you will see from the 2012 Government.

[emulatorloo]

1. Jim DeMint thinks unemployment benefits should be a LOAN program

“I don’t think we need to extend unemployment any further without paying for it, and without making some modifications such as turning it into a loan at some point. It then encourages people to go back to work,” DeMint said.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2010/12/demint-a-no-on-tax-deal.html

[WCGreen]

2. I agree with him on that.....

Why should any income be taxed twice.

My problem is that far too much income is not taxed at all.

That is the whole problem with the Estate Tax, it taxes stuff twice without the benefit of an economic event.

There are ways to get at that income that is more fair, stays true to the idea that no income should be taxed twice and also increases the base of taxable income...

[polichick]

3. +1

[dkf]

4. He is saying no capital gains tax or estate tax.

Once your family hits it big you are all home free. You okay with that?

[karynnj]

9. His including capital gains makes no sense

The gain is NEW money earned. The fact that is a return because you invested capital - and not labor, does not mean that income was previously taxed.

I agree with your summary.

[WCGreen]

11. I was refering to the Estate Tax. It should be abolished.

Tax the assets when they are sold or levy a capital gain on the asset at the time of death instead of an Estate Tax.

That is what I think should happen.

Death should not be an economic event.

[DrToast]

15. Death isn't an economic event. Earning income is

The dead person isn't taxed. They're dead. The person getting the windfall is taxed.

[WCGreen]

16. Your missing the point....

The person would pay tax on the gain from selling the asset.

It's the right thing to do.

There would be no bumping up of the basis of the assets in question. That is where most of the phantom income goes poof.

I do this for a living, I do taxes.

BTW, I don't believe anyone should be punished for being wealthy. But I do believe that the wealthy owe more because it is this society that allows them to become wealthy so they have a much bigger stake in having our government runs well and that requires money.

But so many people on both sides, more on the GOP side, a lot more, behave like children. If they address this situations as adults speaking too adults, perhaps we wouldn't have these great economic problems.

[LiberalFighter]

6. How is Estate Tax taxing a second time?

[WCGreen]

10. Taxing money that was earned to purchase the assets

subjected to the Estate Tax means that the income that was taxed when earned is also tax on the valuation of the property for Estate Tax purposes.

I'm an accountant, I do taxes. I don't believe that any income should be exempt from tax nor do I want to tax any income twice.

Death is not an economic event.

The person who inherits the assets should not be taxed until that asset is sold. Then the value of the asset at the time of purchase would be subject to the capital gains tax. The sale of the asset creates an economic event.

That's just what I believe.

[karynnj]

8. It depends who you think is taxed

At the point an estate tax is paid, the person who was originally taxed on it is dead. I think of it as the heirs paying a tax on NEW money coming to them. As to the fairness of the estate paying it - consider the gift tax, where the donor pays taxes on amounts above a much lower threshold ( http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=108139,00.html )

Why should the first dollar earned by a fast food employee be taxed and someone get millions completely tax free? Why should a person, likely already given the best education money could buy, with his/her parents' connections to help them get ahead get millions tax free?

[Beaverhausen]

13. Money received from an inheritance isn't "earned"

The person who worked and made the money earned it, and was taxed on it.

The person inheriting it didn't do a thing to 'earn' the money. It shouldn't just be given to them freely.

If you want an aristocracy to rule this country, then keep saying the estate tax should be abolished.

[WCGreen]

14. It's not an economic event.

They should pay the capital gain tax, the difference between the cost of the asset and the value of the asset at the time of death.

Look, no income should be taxed twice. But the value of the asset should not be "bumped" up to the value at the time of death.

It's not about an aristocracy because every bit of income will be taxed. The way it is now, billions of inherited assets are not taxed. This way, every bit of inherited property would be taxed, as it should be...

[LiberalFighter]

5. I'm trying to figure out how income is taxed more than once.

[dkf]

7. Capital gains and estate tax.

[LiberalFighter]

12. How is the capital gains tax a 2nd tax on income?

The last I knew it was a tax on the amount of profit received through an investment. They don't get taxed on the amount they invest but on the amount above the investment cost. That isn't a 2nd tax on the same income.

Not knowing the full scope of the estate tax it would appear that while the person is alive they have plenty of options available to spend the income without the estate tax being incurred. So how much would they have accumulated during their lifetime if they had not spent a penny? I'm going to guess that when I die I would have received just under 2 million in income thru my lifetime that will not be taxed via the estate tax and will probably have less than $200k when I die.

Just as the capital gains tax there is likely to be property that has increased in value that is part of the estate. More likely to happen in estates with higher amounts. They have jewelry, property investments, paintings, etc where the value has increased substantially. The amount above the original cost is new income that was never taxed.

Here's a little tidbit for everyone to remember. Just as the federal income tax the estate tax is not taxed all at one rate. i.e. taxable amounts over $3 million may be taxed at 55% but the taxable amounts below $3 million is taxed at different rates.