The 2001 Tax Reform gradually does away with inheritance tax, by 2010, but fully reimposes it in 2011.
http://www.ombwatch.org/npadv/estatetax/estax_preserve.html
IMHO the IT will never be eliminated, although the rise in exempted amount will stick and the percentage reduction may stick.
What do you think will happen?
IIRC, during the Clinton administration Congress passed a bill that would repeal the estate tax, but Clinton vetoed it. Now that Bush is in the house, there’s a good chance that they’ll try again.
The law described here has already passed Congress and been signed by Bush. However, it makes no sense to gradually eliminate IT in 2010 then fully re-impose it in 2011. So. I assume something more reasonable will be done at some point between now and then. Note that adjustments may well occur after Bush is gone from the White House.
But things like this make me wonder. A committee of drunk teenagers couldn’t have come up with anything dumber.
In case you are wondering, having the tax cut provisions expire in 2011 was a way for Congress to get around some law or other. I believe that this law would have required them to study and report on the impact of the tax cuts on revenue beyond the 10 year budget projections if they would impact revenue beyond then. Thus, in order to avoid this, they had everything expire in 2011.
As for me, I ain’t going to make 10 year political predictions. Hell, I am loathe to try to predict what will happen in the Congressional elections in 2002 and the Presidential one in 2004, let along what will happen in subsequent elections, let alone what will happen to the economy relative to budget projections. All of these will have an impact on what gets decided.
Obviously, in 2010, lots of millionaires will die under mysterious circumstances.