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Comment by Denvercoder9 | Hacker News Reader

That seems very far-fetched. For one, you can refuse gifts. Furthermore, I'd assume that the tax is based on fair market value, and if they can't sell the building because no one wants to buy it, doesn't that mean that the market value is $0?

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> if they can't sell the building because no one wants to buy it, doesn't that mean that the market value is $0?

I think it's based on comparable buildings and what they sold for recently.

I don't know how it works in South Korea but in the US, appraisals don't require having to sell the building. Similarly, for insurance purposes, they need to determine a value without having to sell the building.

The idea is that you'd have to pay inheritance tax on the value of the building. The only way for someone without wealth to pay that would be to sell the building. The sale of an industrial site could take years, during which you'd owe a bunch of taxes.

The tax man will put a lien on the building and get their money when the building sells. This idea that being given billions of dollars (as the Lee family was) is somehow a bad thing or has downsides is just ludicrous propaganda.

For any billionaires out there, if you have unwanted buildings or want to punish me with a large tax bill, I will accept the punishment. Call me maybe!

Oh I see. I think I misunderstood what the original comment was saying. There shouldn't be a need to sell the building to appraise its value but right, the new owner might have to sell it to be able to pay the tax if they have no other means to pay it.

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