Cut inheritance tax, I'll pay more tax so some kids can get a free house

[MrNM]

The elderly have worked all their life.

 

Getting money/property through inheritance is not comparable

 

Well so that the bloke with the house, but then your argument is pretty much this. He has assets to take em!

[mj.scuba]

The elderly have worked all their life.

 

Getting money/property through inheritance is not comparable

 

But those that have worked, saved and purchased a house have to sell their assets to pay for it.

 

The ones that haven't saved or purchased a house get it free.

[MrNM]

But those that have worked, saved and purchased a house have to sell their assets to pay for it.

 

The ones that haven't saved or purchased a house get it free.

 

That socialism though. If you don't have the money you can still have it all!

[mj.scuba]

Oh i agree - i think the way the elderly are treated is a disgrace.

 

But i don't think the issues are related to each other, is all.

 

They share a common theme - save money and buy a house and you will be punished for it.

[tonkatoy]

Well, the deceased is not being punished - the person who is receiving it is the one being "punished", and since they didn't earn the money themselves I don't see a problem with it.

 

And yes, no arguments from me, I think that the elderly should be entitled to free care, as befits my socialist credentials

 

I just wonder why anyone would want to buy a house in your idealised world. Surely it would be better to rent a house if the one you scrimp and save to buy cannot be passed on to your children.

[tonkatoy]

It just interests me that you have a couple who are bringing up their kids. The couple work hard, maybe start a business in order to provide for themselves & their kids. They buy a house but don't spend their all their money but save so that their kids can pay their way through university and have a good start in life.

 

Then the parents are killed in a car crash.

 

So the socialists say take their savings and sod the kids or their education. What a wonderful incentive it is to be successful in the UK.

[epiphany]

I always thought the capitalist principle was that you get rewarded for your labours and enterprise.

 

Actually, that's a shared principle right across the political spectrum.

 

And it is why taxing income from labour is wholly wrong, in this filthy socialist's opinion. In fact, a tax on labour is what capitalists effectively do when they freeze wages and deny their workers a fair stake in the capital they helped create.

 

Inheritance tax wouldn't be so unethical if we hadn't already paid tax on our labour.

 

What about all the unearned wealth that comes by simply sitting on a property/land and watching its value increase over time? That wasn't from labour.

 

What about the interest you earn on your savings? That wasn't from labour.

 

It's quite clear in my mind which income is justifiably taxable.

Edited December 10, 2009 by epiphany

[mj.scuba]

So how is me giving someone else a lot of money incentive for them to be successful? It isn't. If you give them the money they do not need to be successful. As I already said, any true capitalist should be against giving someone something for nothing, never mind socialist.

 

I think that is possibly true only for the mega mega rich like the Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie or the Beckham kids, people that would never want for anything in their lifetime.

 

But if I was to die at 85, my eldest would be 60 years old by then. I don't think he'll have wasted his whole life waiting for our 3 bed end terrace.

[mj.scuba]

Like in most of europe you mean? Yes, I would agree that renting is better than buying.

 

Who would we all rent off? The nation would divide in two; home owners that are also Landlords, and those that rent, whilst the Landlords get rich off of all those renting. Surprised you're advocating that.

[anarchist]

Actually, that's a shared principle right across the political spectrum.

 

And it is why taxing income from labour is wholly wrong, in this filthy socialist's opinion. In fact, a tax on labour is what capitalists effectively do when they freeze wages and deny their workers a fair stake in the capital they helped create.

 

Inheritance tax wouldn't be so unethical if we hadn't already paid tax on our labour.

 

What about all the unearned wealth that comes by simply sitting on a property/land and watching its value increase over time? That wasn't from labour.

 

What about the interest you earn on your savings? That wasn't from labour.

 

It's quite clear in my mind which income is justifiably taxable.

 

Well most of the unearned income from sitting on a property is actully nothing more than an inflation increase.

 

This is another of Brown's stealth taxes.

 

A property/business that someone bought for £200,000 20 years ago and sells for £500,000 has probably not actually increased in value because the buying power of the £500,000 now is no more than the £200,000 was then.

 

Up until 1997 the tax office published indexation tables which allowed capital gains to be corrected for inflation. Of course now Brown has stopped all that and abolished indexation, so the hapless property owner would be taxed on a £300,000 gain (around £116,600 tax ) despite having gained virtually nothing in real terms.