In an attempt to keep blog entries short, I'll keep this post to one factoid; Death and taxes II will inevitably come next time.
It's about the estate tax, which conservative law makers often refer to as the "death tax". In 2021, there were 2,584 estates that paid it, though those estates paid an average of over $7 million in taxes each. (Source: this spreadsheet) This is a tax on the richest of the rich.
It's an easy mechanism that makes this happen: the first many millions of dollars of estate aren't taxable at all, no matter how rich you are. After about $11 million, that's where the taxes start. (Also, many, many other carve-outs.)
That's all for this time. Just bear in mind next time somebody laments the estate tax that they're not talking about you or anybody you know.