From the desk of Kristina R. Hess, San Diego Trust and Estate Attorney:
Estate Tax News for San Diego Estate Planning families:
55 cents of every dollar over $1 million is what the government is currently set to recover under the current estate tax law scheduled to become effective January 1, 2011.
As part of a larger tax deal with Republicans, President Obama has agreed to raise the exemption (the amount you can pass tax free at your death) to up to $5 million with a marginal tax rate of 35%! See the NY Times article here.
This would be a significant change and a huge concession to the wealthy and Republicans… and Democratic lawmakers are voicing their strong opposition to this proposal…
So, nothing is signed, sealed and delivered just yet… and if efforts from last December are any indication, I won’t hold my breath for this estate tax deal to pass… (last December efforts to extend the $3.5 million exemption amount of 2009 failed).
I will keep you posted. For the time being, the tax alert is still real.
Kristina