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A Case For and Against An Estate TaxA Case For and Against An Estate Tax

Two industry experts share their thoughts.

16 Min Read
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The purpose of taxation is to arm society with the means to provide civilization. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “I like to pay taxes. With them, I buy civilization.”1 But, the Supreme Court, in McCulloch v. Maryland,2 noted, “The power to tax involves the power to destroy.”

We can’t begin to discuss here the “best” philosophy of taxation but were we to do so, we wouldn’t be among the first. For instance, in 1 Samuel 8:15-17, the God of the Hebrew Scriptures tells Samuel to warn the people that a king will take a tenth of their grain and flocks, and Plato notes that where an income tax is imposed, the just will pay more and the unjust less.3 

An alternative to imposing taxes might be to have the government prin...

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About the Authors

Turney P. Berry

Partner, Wyatt Tarrant & Combs LLP

Turney Berry is the leader of the Firm's Trusts, Estates & Personal Planning Service Team, he also serves on the Firm's Executive Committee.  He concentrates his practice in the areas of estate and business planning, estate and trust administration, and charitable giving and tax-exempt organizations.

Jonathan G. Blattmachr

Principal, ILS Management, LLC

 

Mr. Blattmachr is a Principal in ILS Management, LLC and a retired member of Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy LLP in New York, NY and of the Alaska, California and New York Bars. He is recognized as one of the most creative trusts and estates lawyers in the country and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America. He has written and lectured extensively on estate and trust taxation and charitable giving.

Mr. Blattmachr graduated from Columbia University School of Law cum laude, where he was recognized as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and received his A.B. degree from Bucknell University, majoring in mathematics. He has served as a lecturer-in-law of the Columbia University School of Law and is an Adjunct Professor of Law at New York University Law School in its Masters in Tax Program (LLM). He is a former chairperson of the Trusts & Estates Law Section of the New York State Bar Association and of several committees of the American Bar Association. Mr. Blattmachr is a Fellow and a former Regent of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and past chair of its Estate and Gift Tax Committee. He is author or co-author of five books and more than 400 articles on estate planning and tax topics.

Among professional activities, which are too numerous to list, Mr. Blattmachr has served as an Advisor on The American Law Institute, Restatement of the Law, Trusts 3rd; and as a Fellow of The New York Bar Foundation and a member of the American Bar Foundation.