To my conservative friends about “death” taxes: I have a proposal.
It is my understanding that you can currently you can inherit north of $11 million tax-free for the current tax year. If you invest and get a meager 4% return on that inheritance, that is $440,000 per year. This is quite a bit more than I make per year.
The argument I hear from my friends is that the money has been taxed already, so the estate should not be taxed. From my perspective, this argument means they have no debt to society.
My counter-proposal is that you can keep your gain, but if a family member has served in the military, their heirs do not have to do military service, as their debt to society has been paid by their family member. Do the math; eventually heirs — including those like our president, with his bone spurs — will need to serve.
Military service can potentially be a true death tax. These are things to think about. I tip my hat to any member of society who is serving or who has served.
— Mike Searcy
Anchorage
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