Estate or “Death Tax”: What’s the Latest News?

It “appears” the President will agree to a future estate tax with a $5 million exemption and a 35% tax rate, although he is getting tremendous resistance from his own party. We need to wait and see how this shakes out. Regardless of your political affiliation, note that this agreed exemption and rate are only for two years.

As usual, Congress and the President are waiting until the last minute to compromise.

It they don’t, most people are in for a big tax hike. For example, without an agreement, the estate tax exemption is scheduled to reset with a $1 million exemption and a 55% maximum tax rate on January 1, 2011.

For more on background on this breaking story, check out the Wall Street Journal.

Stay tuned – follow our blog and we will update you with the status of this “death tax”. Unfortunately, one thing looks certain: the “death tax” – like most taxes – will not die!