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Comment by dantheman | Hacker News Reader

Estate taxes are immoral, that money has already been taxed.

Why is being taxed multiple times immoral? My income is taxed and when I spend it the receiver is taxed again. Also, “immoral”, is that the word angle you want to take? Seems hyperbolic

"Money should only be taxed at one specific point as it passes through the economy, and anything more is immoral" is actually a large claim to make. It's not self-evident, and requires at least some justification.

"Hey, that's already been taxed!" does have some intuitive appeal, but honestly I think that intuition comes from the game of Tag or something.

But money, being fungible, in constant circulation, and yielding assets and profits from re-investment, has many points at which it might feel fair to tax it.

It might not feel fair, but at least there's more there to discuss.

What about sales tax? My income has already been taxed.

That’s a separate transaction.

When I die and give my home to my kid that’s not a transaction that a family home going to family.

Or are you arguing that when a husband dies the wealth should be taxed before going to the surviving spouse?

Or if you pay for your kids education (say college - they’re an adult) should that money be taxed?

My mom already "owns" whatever money my dad makes and vice versa. They file jointly and have partnership+joint accounts. This has been the case for 40+ years. The money won't go to her when he dies. It's already hers. I see what you're getting at but that's a bad example.

Alternatively: estate taxes are a huge boon to the accumulators of wealth because they allow people to shift much of their tax burden until after they're dead and don't need it anymore. Cut the estate tax and you'll need to increase the taxes people pay while they're alive.

That's a ridiculous point, by the way. All money is taxed repeatedly. Hand it to a store. Sales tax. Report it as profit. Corporate tax. Pay it to employees. Income tax. Hand it to a different store... There's no "moral" calculus here. We tax economic activity. If you give money to someone else, be it for a candy bar or in an inheritance, that's economics and the apropriate place for government to take a cut is on something that sales linearly with the economy.

Money is taxed continuously as it moves around the economy, it is certainly not taxed only once.

You're taxed on income. You save buy a house, and you're taxed on the property you bought. You're also taxed on dividends from any remaining savings. You're also taxed on any spending you do (in most states).

Why is double taxation a moral issue?

Almost every dollar that comes into almost anyone's possession has already been taxed, so you could make the same argument about income taxes and sales taxes. I doubt that I have ever owned a dollar that had not been taxed before I got it.

Same also goes for taxes on real property. My land had already been taxed long before I bought it.

Do you think that all of those taxes are also immoral?

That's great and all, but I prefer not having an entrenched aristocracy.

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