Switzerland’s government rejected a proposal to jack up inheritance taxes on the super rich, diminishing the chances of the plan passing in a national vote.
It really is, the best kind of inheritance tax is a progressive one that is zero until a person inherits the equivalent of a median apartment.
This tax is politically tricky though because it’s an emotionally charged topic that is easy to get people riled up. Think “Labor is taxed, financial gains are taxed, gas is taxed, products are taxed, retirement income is taxed and death is taxed also?” vibes.
There is also a question of farmers since you need a farm of a certain size to be competitive and that’s usually land that’s worth a lot of money. It’ll basically make it impossible to transition individual farmers between generations since they’re always just barely getting by and surely not going to be able to afford the tax.
The Brits added an exemption for farmland and the rich use it as a loophole now.
I say fuck it, redistribution once per generation is really good for the economy.
Doesn’t this incentivize the state causing more death and individuals not wanting to improve their property/business if they can’t choose who gets it after they pass?
What??? That’s the craziest shit I’ve heard today, that would mean any country with universal healthcare would be incentivized to kill their citizens as soon as possible because it saves money.
Not if they made it a point to split ownership with those alive before they died. Its not really all that hard its mostly a greed and control thing. Farm with two parents and three kids could have each parent with a 35% ownership stake and 10% for each kid but if both parents died it would be a severe tax day. If they did 20% a piece then if the kids were older they could buy out what was left and the parents could sell of theirs as they got older to avoid the tax. That being said I could see some allowed inheritance level like a million.
At least in Finland you can’t give tax free gifts over a small amount. So you can’t give part of your company to your children beforehand. The only way things like family farms can be inherited is that at least some part of inheritances is tax free.
Not to mention that farms are usually run by one family. Hard to imagine siblings wanting to live and work on the same farm together.
These are difficult issues. I don’t think we can figure out a perfect system, we are going to have to live with flaws.
To me inheritance is the fairest thing to tax. Everything should go to the state at death.
It really is, the best kind of inheritance tax is a progressive one that is zero until a person inherits the equivalent of a median apartment.
This tax is politically tricky though because it’s an emotionally charged topic that is easy to get people riled up. Think “Labor is taxed, financial gains are taxed, gas is taxed, products are taxed, retirement income is taxed and death is taxed also?” vibes.
There is also a question of farmers since you need a farm of a certain size to be competitive and that’s usually land that’s worth a lot of money. It’ll basically make it impossible to transition individual farmers between generations since they’re always just barely getting by and surely not going to be able to afford the tax.
The Brits added an exemption for farmland and the rich use it as a loophole now.
I say fuck it, redistribution once per generation is really good for the economy.
Doesn’t this incentivize the state causing more death and individuals not wanting to improve their property/business if they can’t choose who gets it after they pass?
What??? That’s the craziest shit I’ve heard today, that would mean any country with universal healthcare would be incentivized to kill their citizens as soon as possible because it saves money.
Judging by life expectancy, this is not the case.
That would destroy a lot of family business like farms.
Not if they made it a point to split ownership with those alive before they died. Its not really all that hard its mostly a greed and control thing. Farm with two parents and three kids could have each parent with a 35% ownership stake and 10% for each kid but if both parents died it would be a severe tax day. If they did 20% a piece then if the kids were older they could buy out what was left and the parents could sell of theirs as they got older to avoid the tax. That being said I could see some allowed inheritance level like a million.
At least in Finland you can’t give tax free gifts over a small amount. So you can’t give part of your company to your children beforehand. The only way things like family farms can be inherited is that at least some part of inheritances is tax free.
Not to mention that farms are usually run by one family. Hard to imagine siblings wanting to live and work on the same farm together.
These are difficult issues. I don’t think we can figure out a perfect system, we are going to have to live with flaws.