Effort to Extend Estate Tax Fails
According to a Wall Street Journal article at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126098351451293981.html the Senate has failed to pass a patch to the estate tax laws that would have kept the estate tax from expiring in 2010. Apparently the Democrats favored keeping the 2009 levels in place (a $3.5 million exemption and a 45% tax rate) whereas the Republicans favored a $5 million exemption and a 35% top rate. It is possible that passage of a new law in 2010 will be made retroactive to January 1, 2010.
It appears that issues such as whether College Football should institute a playoff system may be deemed more important by our Congress than trying to address the issue of estate taxes. See http://kdka.com/topstories/congress.bowls.playoffs.2.1358827.html
Stay tuned. Hopefully there will be some legislation early next year that will provide some certainty to the estate tax issue.
