Having watched people (usu. my age and younger) with inheritances act as if they were Lotto winnings, any money not gotten by the Death Tax will soon enter the economy as taxes on other stuff.
You have to be fair: you have to look at the Death Tax in two ways. You look at it, first, from the inheritee's position ("free money!"), which says tax the hell out of it, appealing to the American instinct not to reward anyone who didn't earn it.
Then, you have to look at it from the original breadwinner's position. They (typically) earned the money in the economy; they (usually) did it by being productive and/or making good decisions that (often) grew the economy while the wealth was being used/invested. It's their money free and clear; they should be able to decide what to do with it, rather than to face one last time the gummint's slice. Particularly at death when one's lifetime should be honored and praised, if due, and not subject to the usual rude accounting.
|