Fixing America

[Ziggurat]

Yep.

Out of curiosity, is us agreeing the 7th Sign?

No, probably only the 4th or 5th sign.

But in all seriousness, forums like this tend to accentuate disagreements and gloss over common ground.

 

[acbytesla]

No, probably only the 4th or 5th sign.

But in all seriousness, forums like this tend to accentuate disagreements and gloss over common ground.

That's probably true as well.

You're a 100 % right the real problems are political and structural. I find that most of the difficulties of solving America's problems to be these things. I think we have a huge agricultural problem in the US that has only continued to get worse in the last 55 years. And what stops us from solving it? Politics and Structural issues. The same is true about manufacturing. Or transitioning away from fossil fuels. Vested interests obstruct any real changes.

I see homelessness continuing to grow and grow and grow until the shortage of affordable housing is addressed. And consumerism will continue to decrease because more and more people lack the resources to buy anything above and beyond the necessities.

But if you know anything about economics you know that supply and demand is the major determinant is setting prices. Solving the shortage of homes will result in stagnant or even decreasing home values. Either way, someone's is affected negatively.

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

Burn the constitution and burn the reoublican party. The the US can begin the process of being fixed.

 

[Norman Alexander]

Meanwhile, as the USA tries to recover, save the best bits elsewhere.

While Trump is moving fast and breaking things, Americans wanting to escape should come to Australia​

There is a talent pool of brilliant people who should be invited to study here, to work in our hospitals, construction sites and research labs

While Trump is moving fast and breaking things, Americans wanting to escape should come to Australia | Julianne Schultz

There is a talent pool of brilliant people who should be invited to study here, to work in our hospitals, construction sites and research labs

www.theguardian.com

 

[arthwollipot]

And the nice thing about that is that these are the right kind of immigrant.

 

[theprestige]

Crippling taxes? Surely ye jest. Estates don't even become taxable until they reach 13.99 million dollars.

Property taxes in California reset on transfer. The taxes necessary to take ownership of a well-built 70 year old home in Los Altos were more than the family could afford.

 

[theprestige]

Are these properties actually in Silicon Valley? That is, California? And was it some time ago?

It's not the inheritance tax, it's the property tax.

 

[Norman Alexander]

From Wikipedia.

The California Association of Realtors sponsored the Proposition 19 constitutional amendment, with the expectation of deriving significant profits from many more home sales under the ballot measure, including from both the expanded tax benefit portability provisions and from the significant narrowing of the inheritance exclusion provisions which will force more home sales. The president of the California Association of Realtors has denied that Proposition 19 is about making money for the Realtors.

And it got passed by a narrow margin. Seems it did as described in the brochure...

 

[TellyKNeasuss]

That's the Feds. Some States are notorious for their Inheritance/Death taxes.

Eta: In my fair NJ, for instance, the state has its hand out if you inherit anything starting at just 500 lousy dollars.

Oh, and you have to pony up before you could even sell the property to get free of the burden. That means you owe the cash immediately on an as yet unrealized gains

This partially contradicts what I've been able to find about NJ. Spouses/partners, direct ancestors, and direct descendants appear to not have to pay any inheritance tax in NJ. The over $500 tax applies to aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins.

 

[Thermal]

This partially contradicts what I've been able to find about NJ. Spouses/partners, direct ancestors, and direct descendants appear to not have to pay any inheritance tax in NJ. The over $500 tax applies to aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Yes, and? My wife and her sister recently became beneficiaries of their uncles estate. He had no kids and his spouse predeceased him. Does that make the tax any less real? Not everyone has kids or living spouses to leave it to tax free, you know.

Eta: what do you mean by "inherit" from.your spouse or partner? That's all de facto co-ownership in Jersey anyway, barring some weird pre-nup arrangement, which would kind of negate an "inheritance" anyway.

 

[acbytesla]

Yes, and? My wife and her sister recently became beneficiaries of their uncles estate. He had no kids and his spouse predeceased him. Does that make the tax any less real? Not everyone has kids or living spouses to leave it to tax free, you know.

I understand that everyone complains about taxes. And I don't know or can know what the taxes are in every state. But it makes sense that the taxes must be before the estate has been settled. Most of the states I have checked have an exemption. Washington State has it at a little over 2 million dollars. Oregon is 1 million. Both have a progressive tax on estates that start at 10% and rises to as much as 20%.Oregon limits estate taxes to 16%. New Jersey hasnt had an Estate Tax since 2018.

 

[Thermal]

I understand that everyone complains about taxes.

It's not the complaining. It's what you can/t do if you don't have the cash up front to pay taxes on the unrealized gains. You can't even sell the place to get out from it. You can literally lose the family house if you are not fortunate enough to have wads of cash stuffing the mattress.

I don't know or can know what the taxes are in every state. But it makes sense that the taxes must be before the estate has been settled. Most of the states I have checked have an exemption. Washington State has it at a little over 2 million dollars. Oregon is 1 million. Both have a progressive tax on estates that start at 10% and rises to as much as 20%.Oregon limits estate taxes to 16%. New Jersey hasnt had an Estate Tax since 2018.

Right, Jersey partially did away with it. Posted above, my wife is currently finding out all about how it was "done away with in 2018". I can quite assure you it's alive and well.

 

[acbytesla]

It's not the complaining. It's what you can/t do if you don't have the cash up front to pay taxes on the unrealized gains. You can't even sell the place to get out from it. You can literally lose the family house if you are not fortunate enough to have wads of cash stuffing the mattress.



Right, Jersey partially did away with it. Posted above, my wife is currently finding out all about how it was "done away with in 2018". I can quite assure you it's alive and well.

You can take a mortgage out on property. Can't you?

 

[Thermal]

You can take a mortgage out on property. Can't you?

On inherited property? No. You can't even transfer title to your name till the taxes are paid. It is in limbo till the state clears you.

But you are responsible for property taxes on it, even though the deed is not in your name. Funsies.

Eta: kind of like you can't use a car as collateral for a loan if you don't own the car. You can't mortgage a house that you legally are not the owner of, and you are not the owner till the tax man is satisfied first.

 

[acbytesla]

On inherited property? No. You can't even transfer title to your name till the taxes are paid. It is in limbo till the state clears you.

But you are responsible for property taxes on it, even though the deed is not in your name. Funsies.

Eta: kind of like you can't use a car as collateral for a loan if you don't own the car. You can't mortgage a house that you legally are not the owner of.

That makes sense the estate hasn't been settled. This is why estate planning is important. Probate can get messy.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

A very simple, incredibly powerful change would be to reduce the inheritance tax dramatically if you pass it directly to the grandkids instead of children.

 

[Brainster]

I understand that everyone complains about taxes. And I don't know or can know what the taxes are in every state. But it makes sense that the taxes must be before the estate has been settled. Most of the states I have checked have an exemption. Washington State has it at a little over 2 million dollars. Oregon is 1 million. Both have a progressive tax on estates that start at 10% and rises to as much as 20%.Oregon limits estate taxes to 16%. New Jersey hasnt had an Estate Tax since 2018.

Ditto what Thermal said. I've received modest inheritances from my father (2011) and my uncle (around 2021) in NJ and both cases dealing with the state inheritance tax was a nightmare (fortunately not for me but my brother, who's an accountant). I generally agree that any taxes should be paid by the estate, but one real annoyance in NJ was that in determining the size of the estate, they consider only the market value of the property, not the existing debt. If your parents died with a million dollar home and a $900,000 mortgage, the estate would be taxed on $1,000,000.

 

[acbytesla]

Ditto what Thermal said. I've received modest inheritances from my father (2011) and my uncle (around 2021) in NJ and both cases dealing with the state inheritance tax was a nightmare (fortunately not for me but my brother, who's an accountant). I generally agree that any taxes should be paid by the estate, but one real annoyance in NJ was that in determining the size of the estate, they consider only the market value of the property, not the existing debt. If your parents died with a million dollar home and a $900,000 mortgage, the estate would be taxed on $1,000,000.

Again, it seems as if people are misunderstanding. New Jersey has an inheritance tax. How much the inheritor owes to the state depends on their relationship to the deceased. If your relationship to the person who died is any of the following, you are exempt from the tax: spouse, civil union partner, domestic partner, child, grandchild, great-grandchild, parent, grandparent, mutually acknowledged child or step-child.

You do owe taxes if you are the deceased’s sibling or are the spouse/civil partner of the deceased’s child (i.e. you were married to the deceased’s child, who previously died). Any other relationship not listed also owes taxes. Inheritances left to schools, religious institutions or charitable organizations do not owe taxes.

The tax rate depends on how big the inheritance is and on your relationship with the deceased. New Jersey does not have a gift tax.

The federal gift tax applies to gifts of more than $19,000 in 2025 and $18,000 in 2024. Any gift to one person in one year worth more than that counts against your 2025 lifetime exemption of $13.99 million.

 

[Pixel42]

Yes, and? My wife and her sister recently became beneficiaries of their uncles estate. He had no kids and his spouse predeceased him. Does that make the tax any less real? Not everyone has kids or living spouses to leave it to tax free, you know.

I struggle to understand why anyone who isn't the child or the living spouse should have any automatic claim on the deceased's money at all, let alone tax free. It's an unearned windfall which very few people are lucky enough to get, the least they can do is pay tax on it.

 

[acbytesla]

I struggle to understand why anyone who isn't the child or the living spouse should have any automatic claim on the deceased's money at all, let alone tax free. It's an unearned windfall which very few people are lucky enough to get, the least they can do is pay tax on it.

I agree. We all pay taxes on income. An inheritance tax is basically that.