this post was submitted on 15 Mar 2024
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[–] khannie@lemmy.world 26 points 8 months ago (15 children)

Austria eliminated its inheritance tax in 2008

What? Why?

[–] player2@lemmy.dbzer0.com 29 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (13 children)

For regular people, an inheritance tax is not great. For the ultra-wealthy it should be mandatory.

Arguments against an inheritance tax:

  • Double taxation: Critics argue that inheritance taxes are a form of double taxation, since the assets being inherited have already been taxed once during the decedent's lifetime.
  • Hurts small businesses: Family-owned businesses can face hardship if they must be sold off to pay inheritance taxes.
  • Discourages investment: Inheritance taxes can disincentivize people from saving and investing, as they know a portion of their wealth will go to the government.

Arguments for an inheritance tax:

  • Reduces wealth inequality: Inheritance taxes help to redistribute wealth from the very wealthy to the rest of society, reducing income inequality.
  • Prevents concentration of power: By limiting the ability of wealth to be passed on unchecked, inheritance taxes can help to prevent excessive concentration of economic and political power in the hands of a few families.
  • Source of government revenue: Inheritance taxes can be a significant source of revenue for governments, which can be used to fund social programs and public goods.
[–] prole@sh.itjust.works 34 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (5 children)

For regular people, an inheritance tax is not great. For the ultra-wealthy it should be mandatory.

Hey good thing (in the US at least), you don't pay a dime of inheritance tax on the first $13.61 million being inherited.

So no "regular people" are paying any inheritance tax whatsoever. Americans have been fooled, again, into rallying against something that has zero direct effect on them.

[–] player2@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Thank you for that information. The article is about a German / Austrian woman so I was summarizing the pros and cons of an inheritance tax which might apply to any country since I don't know the specifics of their law or why they changed it it.

[–] prole@sh.itjust.works 1 points 8 months ago

Fair enough. Apologies for using that to make a point about the US tax system. Typical American move, amirite?

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