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Originally Posted by lookout123
you can harp on about fears of an aristocracy, but you are being dishonest if you don't think normal everyday people are getting skewered by the estate tax laws.
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They arent. The total amount of assets transferred to the spouse
is deducted before tax, as long as the spouse is a US citizen. And if the total estate is $1,500,001 million, the tax is only on the last $1, 0r 45 cents. There's no sudden point where if you make $1 more, you suddenly owe $450,000. Just like poor people pay no income tax, they pay no estate tax. The bar is just at a different level, so the middle class pays no estate tax either. It only affects 2% of the poulation.
As for what the cutoff point is, that's something to be hashed out in legislation. I'd be happy with $10 million now, indexed to inflation.