How can an unpopular increase in inheritance taxes be justified?
Type de matériel :
97
The recent debate on the taxation of wealth and capital, which focuses on ‘lifetime taxation’, has failed to produce any reasonable consensus. By contrast, our approach aims at rehabilitating a reimagined form of albeit more and more unpopular taxes on wealth transfers. The Taxfinh (Tax family inheritances) program combines two inseparable components: Heavier, highly progressive taxes on family inheritances only—excluding inter vivos transfers and charitable bequests—and providing more numerous and easier means to sidestep this new tax, thus encouraging people to make inter vivos gifts or donations (to their children or to charities) or to consume their wealth during their old age. This program has many advantages compared to traditional estate taxes, and should be less unpopular, more equitable, and less distortionary. More importantly, it appears to be the appropriate response to the unprecedented, clearly harmful wealth situation in countries like France, owing notably to the rising age of inheritance. Our contention is that this program could be first implemented without too much trouble in France alone, thus serving as an example for other countries, unlike annual taxes on wealth, which require much more international fiscal cooperation to put into place.
Réseaux sociaux