still no real detail just I WANT MORE OF YOUR MONEY


http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/27/news...ion=2008062809

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I have never understood the estate tax percentages........... Why does an estate need to be taxed at 55%???????????? Didn't the people that created the estate pay taxes on this wealth all along??

because, if you work hard and make money..it should go back to the government!! Don't you know that

Agreed, it is the dumbest concept ever. IMO, it shouldn't be taxed at all. Government had its chance to tax during the duration....

Part of the reason the estate tax exists is to capture gains which escaped taxation during the tax payer's life. Two examples: 1) I buy a stock and hold it for 30 years. I pass away and the stock goes into my estate. Without an estate tax, the capital gains generated would never be taxed. 2) I accumulate a substantial IRA/401k account and pass away before it is drawn down. What I think is in question is not that there is a tax, the big question is the level. I see no reason why the tax rate is greater than the capital gains rate applied to long term asset holdings. Estates are, after all, built up over longer term time periods.