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Taxing Inherited Wealth: A Philosophical Argument, David G. Duff

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This paper presents a preliminary argument for the introduction and design of a lifetime accessions tax: a progressive tax on inherited wealth levied on the cumulative lifetime gifts and inheritances of the recipient.' As such, it contains an elaboration of the rationale for the tax and a presentation of distributive principles to govern its design. However, it does not include a detailed exposition of the actual design of the tax, nor an analysis of its feasibility in a given context. As a result, it provides an ethical blueprint for the design of an ideal inheritance tax without fully considering concrete …