The local radio station occasionally plays their "small print" addendum to their prize package list; after they mention that all prizes valued over $600 (I think) are subject to tax, they say, "Don't forget--Uncle Sam knows who you are, and where you live."

The figure I've seen for the estate tax revenue is $290 billion over the next 10 years. If the tax is repealed, then where does that money come from? Raise the income tax?, Cut Medicaid?, Just add it to the debt?

I suppose it would be easy for the government to never know about it if I didn't declare the gift as income on my taxes.

Exactly why my grandmother spent the last few years of her life parceling out the family treasures, well, that and she didn't want arguing between family members over who gets what. My mom is still pissed that my cousin managed to talk Gramma into giving him the Victrola, though--she'd had her eye on it since long before he was born.

Where I work, if an employee wins a $10 gift certificate in a "morale boosting ceremony" it's subject to tax. I know because I have to get the person's social security number and put it in the system, so it gets reported to the Feds.

Since I figure an inheritence is just a gift you get when the giver is beyond having a use for it, I'm not seeing the difference an estate tax makes, aside from lower exempted amounts for gifts from live folks.

Like I say, the gift only gets taxed once. You get to claim whatever the giver paid for it as the "basis", or basically the cost of the gift, and it's not taxable to you. But you would have to pay any capital gains if you ever sold it. An estate tax makes the entire fair market value of the estate taxable at transfer. So,

I give you a house while I'm alive. I paid $50,000 for it, now it's worth $400,000. OK, fine. When you sell it, (for 400K) you owe taxes on the gains realized, which is $350,000. That's ok, you can pay the money out of your gains, and that $50K investment is only taxed once.

I give you a house when I die. I paid $50,000 for it, now it's worth $400,000. You pay estate taxes on $400,000 now, and that $50K is taxed twice, by virtue of me dying.

Ha, flea. That's classic.

When I left a job years ago, the big boss decided to give me a nice bonus as a going away present, but didn't mention it to the accountant until after. So I got a round-number hand-written check, but then nearly all of my last paycheck was taken away by the taxes on the bonus check.

I give you a house when I die. I paid $50,000 for it, now it's worth $400,000. You pay estate taxes on $400,000 now.

'Cept it's under the 1 million (or whatever) limit, so you'd pay no taxes. Or am I missing something?

From Wired:

Polly Want a ... What?
If you need proof that we are all a product of our environment, look no further than Barney, a 5-year-old Macaw who swears like a lorry driver. Which figures, because Barney, who now resides at a sanctuary in central England, once belonged to a lorry driver. Although workers at Warwickshire Animal Sanctuary have tried to break Barney of his habit, the stream of invective continues. "He's told a lady mayoress to f... off and he told a lady vicar: 'And you can f... off as well,'" sanctuary worker Stacey Clark said. Barney didn't hold back when it came to a couple of visiting cops, either. "He told them: 'And you can f... off, you two wankers.'"

I think picking your nose at work should not be done.

I think picking your nose at work should not be done.

Whoa! That's quite a stand to take.