What ethical (if any) or economical arguments are offered in defense of the inheritance tax?

Question

Although I am normally quite supportive of higher taxation, I've never really felt comfortable with the inheritance tax. I see no reason why the government should tax the money a parent wishes to endow upon their children. That seems to be entirely an internal family and household matter to me which you'd think was none of the governments business.What arguments are typically offered by those supportive of this taxation technique, both ethically and economically, in order to defend and promote its use?

Answer 1

According to IRS, if you inherited a property, you don’t have to pay inheritance tax. It is not taxable income but again, it depends on the type of inheritance. However, six states in America impose inheritance tax.

 I think such taxes should be the responsibility of the transferor or deceased after death.  Since it is a gift to beneficiaries, they should be exempted from paying it. It imposes high cost and burden on the parties who inherited. Economically, such taxes can reduce investment and lead to devious methods of tax evasion on federal taxable income. The economic implications are loss of government revenue and dead weight loss.