Taxation & Estate Planning

Greenville Estate Lawyer: ?Estate Tax Redux?

By Christopher L. Miller

Well, we are almost through one half of the year 2010, and there is not much news to report on what will happen to the federal estate tax. As you may know, pursuant to the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA), there is no federal estate tax in 2010. There is also no estate tax in South Carolina this year, as has been the case since January 1, 2005.

In December 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a tax bill that would make the 2009 federal estate tax law permanent, thus locking in the 3.5 million dollar per person estate tax exemption and 45 % top tax rate. The Senate never took up this bill. There has been some political rangling in the Senate lately, but Democrats are unwilling to take up a bill unless they are fully confident they can get a floor vote.  The reasons for this are beyond the scope of this post, but suffice to say that political rangling is preventing new federal estate tax legislation.

With the possibility of a double dip recession looming, the oil spill that will not end, and mid-term elections coming up that may dramatically alter the make up of Congress, one wonders whether anything will happen on this issue. 

What is interesting is what will happen to South Carolinians (more…)

Full post as published by Res Publicae - The New York Estates Blog on June 06, 2010 (boomark / email).