[kcorbitt]

It's a fair question. Personally though, I come down on the exact opposite side of the question – all gifts should be highly taxed, with maybe a nominal tax-free allowance of a few thousand dollars.

Making large gifts tax-free is just another big advantage that kids born to rich parents get over those born into less-fortunate circumstances. If we're in favor of equality of opportunity (and almost everyone claims to be), much stronger inheritance/gift taxes seem like a really obvious place to start.

I wrote some thoughts on this a few months ago: https://corbt.com/posts/2018/04/25/a-100-estate-tax.html

[isostatic]

It's not just rich kids that benefit, and it's not just direct gifts that benefit.

If your parents live within commuting distance of London, you can probably take a very low paid job to get a rung on the ladder. Very few outgoings - no rent, no bills. £600/month for season ticket and nights out, and even on minimum wage you'll be saving £5k a year.

If your parents live in say Devon or Yorkshire, you can't do that. You'll be paying £1k a month just for rent.

[tomp]

IIRC Switzerland is introducing a "homeowner's tax" - the equivalent to the tax your landlord would be paying on your rent if you were renting instead of owning - essentially, they're considering you're renting to yourself, so you need to pay the tax. Now that's pro-equality (ironically, for Switzerland).

[TheCoelacanth]

I believe they already have this (it's called "imputed rent") and are considering getting rid of this[1].

[1] https://lenews.ch/2017/08/24/a-swiss-parliamentary-commissio...

[InitialLastName]

> If we're in favor of equality of opportunity (and almost everyone claims to be)

The problem with that notion is that people often talk around each other W.R.T what it actually means. For some people, the only value of that opportunity is to be able to create a better life for their kids, often through inheritance.