On November 19, 2009, Rep. Earl Pomeroy [D-ND] introduced H.R. 4154, Permanent Estate Tax Relief for Families, Farmers, and Small Businesses Act of 2009. It would make the $3.5M applicable exclusion amount for the estate tax permanent. It would also freeze the estate and gift taxes rate at 45%.
H.R. 4154 is Rep. Pomery's second bill this year to fix the federal estate tax. H.R. 436, which was introduced by Rep. Pomeroy on January 1, 2009, has received a lot of attention because of the restrictions it would impose on valuation discounts.
H.R. 4154 would apply to estates of decedents dying, and gifts made, after December 31, 2009. This bill has been referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
For other estate tax bills introduced in Congress, see Federal Estate Tax Bills in Front of Congress.
[Updated 11/22/09 at 9:30 am]
Permanent relief would be permanent repeal. There are many high asset, low cash businesses out there paying tens of thousands of dollars a year to insurance companies to cover the estate tax. THAT, my friends, IS MONEY THAT COULD BE USED TO HIRE EMPLOYEES. We have 10.2% unemployment in this country. A study published by EstateTaxTruth.org shows that repealing the estate tax would generate 1.5 million jobs. Does anyone in Congress care about that? NO! All they seem to care about is the money they get from Insurance Companies lobbying for the the tax.
Posted by: Seth | 11/23/2009 at 04:09 PM