Reply #7: House votes to make current estate tax level permanent (sorta) [View All]

[ozymandius]

Reporting from Washington - The House of Representatives on Thursday voted to make the current estate tax rate permanent -- just weeks before the tax was scheduled to expire for a year.

The measure, which passed on a 225-200 vote, locks in the current rate of 45% for inheritances over $3.5 million. The bill now faces an uncertain future in the Senate.

If Congress fails to act by the end of the year, the tax will disappear for 2010, but then return in 2011 at a rate of 55%, with the first $1 million exempted. That would restore the tax to where it stood before George W. Bush took office.
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Estimates have the government losing about $235 billion in revenue over the next decade if the lower rate is made permanent.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-estate-tax4-2009dec04,0,3975843.story