The Wall Street Journal reports that there are at least two competing estate tax proposals being floated in Congress. Some Democrats (Harkin, Whitehouse, Franken, Brown) and Socialist Bernie Sanders have proposed bringing back the federal estate tax with a top rate of 65%. It is not clear whether they would exempt any portion of a decedent’s estate from this tax (remember, the exemption was $3.5 million in 2009, and is scheduled to be $1 million in 2011 if Congress takes no action).
On the other side of the coin, Republican Kyl and Democrat Lincoln have proposed an estate tax with a top rate of 35% and an exemption of $5 million. Senator Reid wouldn’t allow the Senate to vote on this proposal.
Stay tuned.
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