[DesertCat]

While I think Buffett is spot on about payroll taxes, I mostly disagree with him on estate taxes. I agree it's bad to have enormous inheritences, both for society and the recipients. I don't have a lot of money, but it was enormously difficult to come up with the right instructions in my will to ensure my kids work ethics and drive wouldn't be damaged by inheriting my estate.

But for the few benefits of the tax, there are many costs and some significant unfairness to it.

- It's another form of double taxation.
- It doesnt work i.e. reduce the gap between rich and poor. Its been in place almost the entire time the gap has grown.
- It prevents family businesses from being handed down, which should practically be a right.
- It forces families into expensive estate planning maneuvers that benefit Lawyers, not society, and they still end up avoiding the tax.
- Occasionally families don't do state planning properly or in a timely manner and they end up paying huge estate taxes while the clever with similar size estates pay nothing. That's blatently unfair.

Its kind of silly to point out the unfairness of our complicated tax system on one hand then to argue for more complication so you can toss another complication on top (a tax credit).

And I would also argue if you want to attack the gap between rich and poor, look first at the payroll tax issue. I believe the SS fix in the early eighties that saved SS created held back income growth among the poor and middle class by sticking them with an enormous tax increase that also increased unemployment by increasing employers costs.