Death, taxes and uncertainty: Economic motivations in end-of-life decision making

Economic motivations are key drivers of human behavior. Unfortunately, they are largely overlooked in literature related to medical decisionmaking, particularly with regard to end-of-life care. It is widely understood that the directions of a proxy acting in bad faith can be overridden. But what of cases in which the proxy or surrogate appears to be acting in good faith to effectuate the patient’s values, yet doing so directly serves the decision-maker’s financial interests? Such situations are not uncommon. Many patients care as deeply about economic wellbeing of their families as they do for their own lives and health. This brief work examines three scenarios that raise ethical issues regarding the role of pecuniary motives in making critical medical decisions. Each scenario presents a potential financial conflict of interest between an incapacitated patient and a third-party decision-maker and offers a framework for integrating ethical and legal concerns into clinical care. It is our hope that this work prepares physicians for unexpected ethical conflicts of interest and enables them to further the interests of his or her patients.

Commerce, Labor, and Taxation

This chapter discusses the development of commerce, labor, and tax laws in the second half of the nineteenth century. It covers contracts, negotiable instruments, the law of sales, usury laws, insurance, bankruptcy, admiralty, labor and law, federal taxation, state and local tax, and death taxes. The law of contract occupies a special place in American law in the nineteenth century. The dominance of contract was one of the sovereign notions of the nineteenth century. By constitutional mandate, no state could “impair” the obligation of contracts. Contract law was also one of the basic building blocks of legal study.

TAXATION OF FOREIGNERS IN SUCCESSION IN THE USA

The article c ontains the analysis of e state and inheritance t axation of aliens (foreigners without permanent residence) in USA in comparison with the same taxation of US residents. The actuality of this topic is explained with the quantity of Russian speaking population in USA as good as with the perspectives for successors of Russian businessmen — holders of US corporate papers and trusts to be faced with US death taxes. The article reveals the all taxes must be levied by aliens, the combination of the estate taxation as taxation of whole estate and inheritance taxation as taxation of the share of each heir, and the complication of these taxes with double progression and annual rate changing. The tax base, rates and tax deductions for aliens, methods of tax calculation are described. The ways to reduce and avoid taxation including death losses insurance, appointment of so called nominal holder and full use of tax deductions are analyzed, as well as the policy of the state to prevent them. The difference in taxation of US residents and aliens whose rights are significantly infringed is described.

Do death taxes deserve to die? An international search for alternatives

The death tax debate has been going on for a long time, with opponents and proponents of death taxes citing various reasons for retaining, amending or abolishing the taxes and no obvious answer coming to the fore. This study conducted a search for alternative taxes that could replace death taxes. The search transcended national borders in order to identify possible solutions to this age-old problem. The suitability of the alternatives (in the eyes of both the opponents and proponents of death taxes) was measured by comparing the advantages and disadvantages associated with each alternative identified to the advantages and disadvantages associated with death taxes. This study further evaluated whether any of the identified alternatives would be suitable for South Africa. It summarises the available alternatives, their advantages and disadvantages. It also concludes that extensive further research is required to arrive at an optimal solution for South Africa.