What changes in the estate tax law are being discussed?
Various bills have been introduced over the last few years to address the pending repeal of the estate tax, but none has made it into law. Today, there doesn’t seem to be any real expectation that the estate tax will be abolished as the law currently anticipates — both because of budget deficits and the belief that such a move would not be supported by a majority in Congress. Assuming that the estate tax is not abolished in 2010, there have been recent proposals that would freeze the federal exemption at the 2009 amount of $3.5 million and others that would increase the exempt amount to $5 million. At recent Congressional hearings, estate planning experts have suggested modernization of the rules that apply to installment payments of estate taxes for closely held businesses. Experts also have suggested that the exemption amount should be ‘portable’ between spouses, meaning that if an exemption is not used fully in the estate of a deceased spouse, the unused portion should be available
