Peter Myers' Blog

The Calculus of Tax

Although I probably lacked the maturity to admit it, calculus and physics were two of my favorite subjects in high school.  The 70's, when I was in high school, were not a heady time, but rather were a spacey time.  Remember Timothy Leary ("turn on, tune in, drop out")?  Being the "artist" I perceived myself to be, I thought liking calculus and physics put me among the geeks and nerds who got excited over the density and velocities of snowballs.

Fortunately, I still liked the class and had enough independent thought (independent of Timothy Leary, anyway) to enjoy the classes and do well in the subjects.  One of the principles that both of these subjects teach you is that change in constant and, indeed can be measured.

Yes, I'm still taking the ferry to work whenever I can.  This is a picture of a cruise ship that came into the Bay this Summer.  Summer is a big time for cruising to San Francisco. 

Still No Permanence in Estate Tax

The latest attempt to reform the Estate, Gift and GST tax failed in the Senate by a vote of 56-42 (60 votes are needed to move the legislation to a vote).

The Bill would have amended the Internal Revenue Code to increase the unified credit against the estate tax to an exclusion equivalent of $5,000,000, as well as repeal the sunset provision for the estate and generation-skipping taxes. 

 

That's me on the far left of the photo pretending I can play golf.  Trevor, Linda and I were debating the estate tax with Joe Harriburta (far right), President of the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, between holes.