To: The Dallas Morning News
Date: November 18, 1999
Subject: Inheritance taxes
Result: Not printed due to limited space

Dear Editor,

Speaking as one who received an inheritance, and therefore was affected by the federal estate tax - and also as one who maintains the fantasy of becoming a billionaire, and in that case would have heirs who would be affected by the estate tax - I would like to say that I am in favor of this tax.

Number one, in looking at my current situation, the thing that strikes me most is how lucky I am to have gotten what I got from old Dad, not the taxes that were paid to reduce that amount.

On the other hand, as rich as I hope to become - not primarily just so I can have a big bank account, but for the things that would and could get accomplished - the fact is that I don't feel that any heir of mine should receive a huge inheritance from me. I would want my wife, if I ever find one, to have enough money to live for the rest of her life in the style to which she would become accustomed. I figure 10 million dollars should take care of that. Plus she'll have the house.

As for any children who I would adopt (since I have no baby-making capability), as far as I am concerned, a million dollars each would be enough for any such children. They will have already had the benefit of growing up with privileges and opportunities that few people enjoy, and so a million dollars should be sufficient for them to try to do something on their own. Okay, so maybe I'll give them a paid-for house too, but that's it.

The most reasonable objection I have heard to inheritance taxes is for people like family farmers who have to sell the farm to pay the taxes. Also, in a recent guest column in the Dallas Morning News, a gentleman made another point. His family, he said, will have to sell land that is a protected habitat for a number of species of birds, including two that are endangered - to pay the inheritance taxes on the value of the land.

There is an easy solution for these relatively special cases. If a family receives such lands as an inheritance and they don't want to sell it, then the estate taxes on those lands should be deferred until such time as the family does decide to sell. If they keep their land forever, paying the normal property taxes on it, fine. But when they do sell it, they will then be liable for the estate taxes on it.

Anyway, we should not do away with a valuable source of income for the sake of those limited special cases, just so you can have all kinds of very wealthy people who did nothing to get their money other than be born to the right parents.

Thank you, John Vehon