The tax on capital gains is just. If you die and leave your children a bunch of money, that is new income to them. The tax is on them and no longer on you. Yes, I suppose it could wait until the sell it but that isn't the way it works. Whether it is money, land or a house, it is assessed and taxes must be paid on what is deemed to be new income into someone new's hands. Depending on how much land or other assets you have, you can gift it to you heirs and save a bunch of it before you die. I put my land into a life estate and deeded the land to my daughters. Of course, I don't have a few thousand acres like most of these poor farmers here.
