Zero-bracketing won't necessarily avoid taxing poor renters: they don't
own the asstes in the first place, and those they rent from typically
have above average asset holdings.
The proposal in _How Rich is Too Rich_ by Sidney Carrol and ??? is
to attack the building up of self-sustaining fortunes by taxing
inheritence on the recipient rather than on the estate. A lifetime $1
million could be recieved as gifts income, whether inheritence or not, tax
free. A further $1 million at 25%, the third million at 50%, the fourth
at 75%, and 100% after that.
Obviously, whether or not this directly collects substantial
income depends on the degree to which fortunes are broken up into $1
million chunks. But if fortunes are dispersed more widely, then on
average the recipients will be less wealthy, the propensity to
consume of the recipients will tend to be higher, and more will get
picked up by income taxes (yeah!) and/or consumption taxes (boo!).
Virtually,
Bruce McFarling, Knoxville
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
