I wasn't aware of this paper, thank you for sharing. Paine is an interesting character and mused on alot of subjects. Way more utopian in his ideas compared to his peers at the time. Obsessed with Revolution. Wouldn't say economics was his strength.
On the contrary, it seems to me that his reasoning about taxation - that it is unjust to coerce via force from the living and thus infinitely preferable to collect from the dead since they no longer need it, whereas the elderly and young do - to be unmatched in halls of power to this day.
And its not unjust for the state to seize inheritance in the name of equity? I think there are limits ... I'd like to give my children my wealth when I pass, but I am a modest person, not Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos. We pay tax on our income, things we buy, our property, our investments, etc - now we must fork over what is left to the state to divvy out? There's a reason only 6 people attended Paine's funeral - he was advocating for a Peoples Monarchy.
Mr. Paine answers all your concerns in his wonderfully well thought-out pamphlet. If more people read it, the world would be a better place. Here's the full text: http://piketty.pse.ens.fr/files/Paine1795.pdf
