Death tax without a gift tax would simply be a tax on people who die unexpectedly. Because if you know that you are going to die tomorrow, you can donate all your belongings to your children today.
Even if you don’t know the exact day, if you trust your children, you can simply donate them everything now, and then continue living in a house they legally own, etc. (Though then you are screwed if your children die before you. But this just means that the system introduces a lot of randomness.)
Oh, and if you have a 100% gift tax, you also need to make all kinds of helping each other illegal. Not only you shouldn’t give you children money, you shouldn’t even give them food, probably not even good advice, if you want to be consistent. Otherwise we get all kinds of tax loopholes, such as allowing your adult children live in a house that you own (so they can save the money they would otherwise spend on rent or buying their own house), or babysitting your grandchildren for free (so that your children can save money they would spend on babysitters). Cooking for your children, helping them fix things, etc., all tax loopholes.
Death tax without a gift tax would simply be a tax on people who die unexpectedly. Because if you know that you are going to die tomorrow, you can donate all your belongings to your children today.
Even if you don’t know the exact day, if you trust your children, you can simply donate them everything now, and then continue living in a house they legally own, etc. (Though then you are screwed if your children die before you. But this just means that the system introduces a lot of randomness.)
Oh, and if you have a 100% gift tax, you also need to make all kinds of helping each other illegal. Not only you shouldn’t give you children money, you shouldn’t even give them food, probably not even good advice, if you want to be consistent. Otherwise we get all kinds of tax loopholes, such as allowing your adult children live in a house that you own (so they can save the money they would otherwise spend on rent or buying their own house), or babysitting your grandchildren for free (so that your children can save money they would spend on babysitters). Cooking for your children, helping them fix things, etc., all tax loopholes.