Doing a Big Favor For the 'Small Rich'.(estate tax)

Publication: Newsweek

Publication Date: 19-JUN-06

Bookmark this article Print this article Link to this article Email this article Digg It! Add to del.icio.us RSS

COPYRIGHT 2006 Newsweek, Inc. All rights reserved. Any reuse, distribution or alteration without express written permission of Newsweek is prohibited. For permission: www.newsweek.com

Byline: Allan Sloan

When the Senate turned down President Bush's bid to repeal the estate tax permanently last week, it actually did a favor for tens of thousands of moderately well-off households--the "small rich," if you prefer. That's because such households would be worse off under the full repeal scheduled for 2010 (which Bush wants to make permanent) than they would be under the 2009 rules, which are more favorable for estates than today's rules. According to a study by Congress's nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation, 7,500 estates would be better off under full repeal in 2010 than under the 2009 rules--but more than 60,000 would be worse off.

This isn't exactly what you heard during last week's debate, is it? How on earth could...

Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.