Abstract
I do want to focus you on what I now see as the crucial social policy behind transfer taxes in America. And, today I would say, that the death tax, if amended, can vindicate that crucial policy. Rightly or wrongly, I think we do not focus on the key purpose of death taxation in this country. I believe knowing the "secret" makes it easier to explain why the environment is so pro-repeal and it makes it easier for me to prescribe for the future. For better or worse, I believe the crucial purpose of the tax is to assert the hegemony of the common people and the egalitarian nature of our society; to undermine oligarchy. To put it crudely, I think the purpose of the tax is to take a little bite out of rich people's butts, to remind them of the essential nature of this country. I would like to talk about why the question of estate tax repeal is front and center these days. Then I will turn to my predictions about the future of transfer taxes.
Recommended Citation
Joel C. Dobris,
Federal Transfer Taxes: The Possibility of Repeal and the Post Repeal World
,
48 Clev. St. L. Rev.
709
(2000)
available at https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/clevstlrev/vol48/iss4/6
Comments
Symposium: The Death of the Death Tax