No, absolutely not. We pay taxes and duties on almost everything, and in all of this, inheritance is already heavily taxed! The idea that children cannot receive the fortune their parents built up for them is already shocking. But that heirs cannot take over the family business because the State is going to levy a tax on the company's value (which already pays its taxes, let's not forget!) is even more serious. This most often results (see France) in forcing the business to close down. You don't need to be a shrewd psychologist to realise that behind the desire to take from the wealthiest, there is most often either jealousy, or envy, or the belief that equality means "taking from the rich to give to the poor", or... all three at the same time :-)

We should be taxed on what we produce / create / offer as individuals... obtaining wealth when we've done nothing but exist is a difficult argument to justify. Of course I earn a better living than in Burkina Faso, but that has almost nothing to do with me. It's just the luck of being born and growing up in one of the richest countries on the planet. Taxes are intended, in states with a minimum social safety net, to redistribute wealth. Of course heirs should pay taxes just as if they had won the lottery (pure chance). Our children inherit our behaviour, our love, the time we've dedicated to them, the attention and support... this can never be taxed... and for parents who haven't been responsible, they can always complain about taxes, but it will never change the essential... having let the most important things slip by