What we need is an inheritance tax on all of the wealth that people didn’t work for. Unearned wealth in the form of real estate and capital appreciation. It’s fine for the hard-working middle class person to pass on their hard-earned home to their child. It’s not so fine if the house has gone up in value 10000% since the time they purchased it.

I don't get it. If you problem is too low capital gains taxes then just say that outright instead of hiding behind an inheritance tax that doesn't even achieve your goals.

This would classify the work of all company founders as "unearned"

There's a big difference between putting your money on the line with a startup you founded and just having the house you live in appreciate over several decades.

As a human, this doesn’t resonate with me at all. I know that many people disagree with inheritance taxes, but I would prefer if my views weren’t characterised as inhuman, since they are motivated by a desire to help people who inherit nothing.

You are talking about trying to interpose in the passing of the fruits of one's labours over a lifetime to one's offspring. Trying to do the best for your offspring is a very deep drive and, while one can make perfectly good logical and cerebral arguments against inheritance at a societal level, you're going to run up against deep and very natural human (and animal) feelings.

You can ask people to transcend those, but don't be surprised when you find people object on an emotional level.

And the level of state ownership of the individual that such a tax implies is very uncomfortable too. I am happy to contribute to the state, but it neither owns me, nor is more important than my own family.

It’s strange that people seem to have assumed that I want to confiscate all inheritances. I just think inheritance taxes should form some part of an efficient and fair tax system, as they do in many countries, but not mine. Do you feel that inheritance taxation implies a greater form of “state ownership” than the compulsory taxes on labour imposed during your lifetime? For me, it feels like the opposite.

> It’s strange that people seem to have assumed that I want to confiscate all inheritances.

Not really in the context of the post I replied to up-thread -

> "I would love an inheritance tax. Even a 100% inheritance tax, on anything more than zero dollars"

I know that wasn't you, but the subject of 100% inheritance tax was definitely raised.

> Do you feel that inheritance taxation implies a greater form of “state ownership” than the compulsory taxes on labour imposed during your lifetime?

Yes, very much. I pay my way during my life, but what I build with what's left should be mine to disperse to my heirs, if any.

I'm not completely opposed to all inheritance taxes either, I think there's probably a balance somewhere, and it's in society's interest to (for example) break multi-generational acquisition of vast amounts of land that result in effective aristocracy.

It's just the 100% crew I object to.

>if my views weren’t characterised as inhuman, since they are motivated by a desire to help people who inherit nothing.

Is this some kind of joke? Who on earth inherits nothing? You've received a body and genetic material from your parents. You have inherited a geographic location from your parents. You have most likely inherited food from your parents. You have most likely inherited an education from your parents. Your parents have passed on so many things onto you before they have died and you call that nothing? Your views are clearly inhuman because they are considering some sort of pseudo life form that exists in a vacuum with no support from anything. The reality is that you start inheriting things from your parents the moment you are born.

If you are truly worried about someone inheriting money while others get nothing why are you complaining about something that usually happens when people are in their 40s and 50s and have already received a substantial advantage from their parents during childhood? You can't undo that injustice after the fact. It's too late, the rich kids who are now middle aged are already ahead of you with 100% inheritance tax or without.

If all of those things are “inheritance,” I’m talking about something more specific – the legal process of reassigning the property rights of deceased people. The state is necessarily involved in this, since it defines and enforces property rights. Different states have different policies ranging from no inheritance tax, to the status quo in the US and the UK, to punitive taxes intended to radically redistribute wealth, to the total abolition of inheritances. We can have a reasonable discussion about changing the status quo at the margin without assuming the implementation of full communism.

They are inhuman, because you want to impose your will and your morality onto others. You are free to help as many people you want with your own wealth.