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How to minimize your taxes on wealth
Taxes on wealth or simply wealth tax is the tax levied on the
value of wealth owned by a person. As the term 'wealth' carries
with it a broader meaning, generally capital transfer taxes
(which include inheritance tax and gift tax), property tax, and
capital gains taxes are some times invariably referred to as
wealth taxes.
Taxes on wealth were first introduced in Europe, aimed at
reducing the growing wealth gap between the rich and the poor.
It was meant to raise revenue for addressing pressing social
requirements and also to discourage the attitude towards
amassing wealth.
Still, in countries across the world, majority of wealth is
concentrated at the hands of fairly small number of people.
Ideally taxes on wealth cuts down the disparities in wealth
rather than the income, which actually is the determinant factor
on how the scales are weighed for the next generations. Also,
taxes on wealth can bring about vertical as well as horizontal
equity, which income tax fails to achieve. For example, neither
a wealthy person nor a poor one with no income will pay income
tax. But the wealthy ones need to cough up wealth tax while the
poor need not.
But, as critics puts down, taxes on wealth can actually cause
inefficiency by discouraging wealth producing economic
initiatives. Also, the revenue generated by imposing taxes on
wealth may not be that productive as the theory suggests.
The
wealthiest form only a small percentage of the population and by
nature they are adept at avoiding taxes while remaining
themselves within the contours of law.
Taxes on wealth comes in two forms - the capital transfer taxes
that are levied when wealth change hands and the annual wealth
taxes. Capital transfer taxes can occur either at death - also
called inheritance tax - or via donation (gift tax). Some people
tend to believe that Capital Gains tax to be a form of taxes on
wealth. But in realty, capital gains tax is the taxation on the
income obtained on capital and not a wealth tax on the capital.
Ideally, taxes on wealth should not be severe on the tax payers
even if they have lots of wealth. Instead, after the minimum
slab of no taxation, the taxes on wealth percentage should
increase at increments, depending on the value of wealth in
dollars. Such a fairer taxation not only increases the revenue
but also goes a long way in bringing down the inequality aspect
as well.
But with intelligent investing, one can save a lot that other
wise goes as wealth tax. But that requires careful thought and
advanced planning. May be a tax professional could help one in
this regard.
About the author:
Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.cashbazar.com. Visit
his website for the latest on personal finance, debt
elimination, budgeting, credit cards and real estate.
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| Internal Revenue Service |
| The US government agency responsible for tax collection and tax law enforcement. Includes income tax forms, instructions, and agency publications. |
| www.irs.gov |
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| Tax Information for Individuals |
| Access to useful information, booklets and other tools from the Internal Revenue Service. |
| www.irs.gov |
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| Tax Center - Yahoo! Finance - Tax forms, tips and calculators. |
| Yahoo! Finance: Tax - Find all the resources you need for tax season. Review recent tax law changes, estimate your taxes, find tax tips and expert answers ... |
| tax.yahoo.com |
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| Taxes: Tax Planning, Tools and Advice - MSN Money |
| Microsoft's Tax Preparation site, in association with Tax Server. |
| moneycentral.msn.com |
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| Tax - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Governments use different kinds of taxes and vary the tax rates: ... Taxes are most often levied as a percentage, called the tax rate, of a certain value, ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| H&R Block | Taxes, Online Tax Preparation, Tax Software, Filing ... |
| Offers online and in-person tax preparation and tax software, mortgages, brokerage and financial services, consumer tips and tax planning information. |
| www.hrblock.com |
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| TaxCut Online | H&R Block | Online Taxes, File Taxes Online ... |
| File your Taxes online with TaxCut Online. Learn how to file taxes online here. |
| www.hrblock.com |
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| Income Taxes, Tax Returns, Refunds, Deductions and E-File Software ... |
| Popular tax preparation software by Intuit. Integrates with Quicken, spreadsheets and offers state by state electronic filing. |
| turbotax.intuit.com |
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| Taxes & Estates, Tax and Estate Planning Advice - Forbes.com |
| Personal Finance - Get tax and estate planning advice and information from Forbes.com. |
| www.forbes.com |
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| Essential Links to Taxes |
| TurboTax Premier For Federal Returns 2005 Win/Mac, TurboTax Total Tax Solution Deluxe 2005 with State Win/Mac, TurboTax Basic 2005 Win/Mac... ... |
| www.el.com |
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| Government > Taxes in the Yahoo! Directory |
| Yahoo! reviewed these sites and found them related to Government > Taxes. |
| dir.yahoo.com |
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| Taxes - Tax News for Home and Business from CNNMoney |
| The latest in tax law updates, news, forms & advice from CNNMoney.com. Includes a refund savings calculator, and interactive tax lessons. |
| money.cnn.com |
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| The Tax Foundation - Educating Taxpayers Since 1937 |
| Devoted to educating taxpayers about tax policy and the total tax burden borne by Americans at all levels of government. |
| www.taxfoundation.org |
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| Welcome to the Vermont Department of Taxes |
| Welcome to the Vermont Department of Taxes... ... Changes to Property Tax Adjustments in 2007 - updated 10/18. - Tax Expenditures Transition Report on ... |
| www.state.vt.us |
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| Franchise Tax Board Homepage |
| The department that collects state personal income taxes and bank and corporation taxes for the State of California. Access to forms and tax information. |
| www.ftb.ca.gov |
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| HM Revenue & Customs: Home Page |
| News and information on tax and national insurance, including downloadable leaflets and forms and the latest news on filing tax returns on-line. |
| www.hmrc.gov.uk |
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| State and Local Tax |
| Piper Resources; State Tax Rates and Structure ...Federation of Tax Administrators; State Payroll Taxes Information ...Symmetry Software ... |
| www.taxsites.com |
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| Quicken.com |
| www.quicken.com/taxes/ - 3k - Cached - Similar pages |
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| Tax news and advice from Bankrate.com |
| Information on all phases of tax planning and preparation. |
| www.bankrate.com |
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| Online Tax Advice - Tax Preparation Help - Income Tax Tips |
| Income Tax Tips - MarketWatch offers online tax advice and tips. ... IRS inflation adjustments mean tax break on next year's taxes. ... |
| www.marketwatch.com |
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