Estate tax is not the only unfair tax

A fellow reader complained of a so-called 'death tax” in an article ('Estate taxes are unfair, unjust,” July 29 by Robert Cribbs).

While I agree with the writer's assertion, he misleadingly stated that the estate tax is 40 percent.

Actually, unless your estate is worth more than $5.34 million, there is no federal estate tax. Is this double taxation as the writer has suggested? Certainly, but then so are sales tax and income tax.

Take this example: I pay a dollar at the sporting goods store and I'm charged sales tax. The store owner then pays income tax whatever profit he made from me on that dollar. Then he takes what is left from this twice-taxed dollar and buys something at the gas station. And the cycle continues.

If we are trying to outlaw double taxation, why start with estate taxes when the worst offenders are sales tax and income tax?

And if we think about it, why not outlaw our failing Social Security and Medicare systems that we are certain to pay for a second time before reaping any rewards from.

There are many unfair taxes in our government, but let's focus on the ones that matter before concerning ourselves with the ones that pale in comparison.

Taylor Wilkin

Hiawatha