Jonathan Weisman, Obama Plans to Keep Estate Tax, in today's Wall Street Journal, writes that President Elect Obama and other Democrats feel repealing the estate tax -- set
to vanish in 2010 -- at a time when states and the federal government
are facing record-level budget deficits isn't prudent. In coming weeks,
Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus is expected to introduce new tax
legislation that focuses on the estate tax.
Some political watchers expect it will call for keeping the estate tax at 2009 levels - that is, a 45% tax rate on an individual's estate value of more than $3.5 million, or $7 million for couples.
According to the article "(a)t the level proposed in the Obama policy, all but the largest estates -- fewer than 2% of annual deaths -- would escape taxation. Over 10 years, the Obama plan would cost the Treasury around $324 billion more than if the Clinton estate-tax levels were maintained, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. Full repeal would cost more than $500 billion over a decade."
In addition to this article, the estate tax is also discussed on the Wall Street Journal blog, Independent Street, by Kelly Spors, Entrepreneurs Fight Death Tax Resurrection.
Some political watchers expect it will call for keeping the estate tax at 2009 levels - that is, a 45% tax rate on an individual's estate value of more than $3.5 million, or $7 million for couples.
According to the article "(a)t the level proposed in the Obama policy, all but the largest estates -- fewer than 2% of annual deaths -- would escape taxation. Over 10 years, the Obama plan would cost the Treasury around $324 billion more than if the Clinton estate-tax levels were maintained, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. Full repeal would cost more than $500 billion over a decade."
In addition to this article, the estate tax is also discussed on the Wall Street Journal blog, Independent Street, by Kelly Spors, Entrepreneurs Fight Death Tax Resurrection.
Posted by Lewis J. Saret, General Editor, Wealth Strategies Journal.
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