Government Advocacy

Should the full repeal of the estate tax passed in 2001 be made permanent?

Background
Estate or “death” tax repeal – phased in over a 10-year period – was approved as part of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 signed into law (Public Law 107-16) in June 2001. The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Act of 2001 phases down the estate tax through 2009 and fully repeals it in 2010. Because of Senate budget rules, however, the Act expires at the end of 2010, and the estate tax comes back full force (at a tax rate of up to 55 percent) starting on January 1, 2011. Estate tax planning can be difficult and expensive – all for a tax that currently generates little more than 1 percent of the total federal budget. The current estate tax system can deplete the estates of those who have saved for their entire lives, force family businesses to liquidate and lay off workers, and motivate people to make financial decisions for estate tax purposes rather than for business or investment reasons. Opposing Senators claim both philosophical and budgetary problems with repeal. The cost of total repeal is considered to be about $380 billion over 10 years.

Printing Industries of America Position
The full repeal of the estate or “death” tax should be made permanent as soon as possible, and most definitely prior to December 31, 2010. In the absence of full and permanent repeal, temporary relief should be sought. Such relief should not preclude future attempts to secure full and permanent repeal.

111th Congress and Obama Administration
The Obama administration supports a freeze of the estate tax at 2009 levels that taxes estates over $3.5 million in value at a 45 percent rate. A Senate amendment to the fiscal year 2009 budget called for a higher $5 million exemption and lower 35 percent rate for those subject to the tax. The conference agreement on the budget between the House and Senate kept the exemption and rate posed by Obama. The budget document is however, not a binding document and the tax writing committees will ultimately set the estate tax rate.

Key Committees: Senate Finance, House Ways and Means

Printing Industries Advocacy

• Printing Industries Congressional Testimony on Estate Tax 11-4-09
• Estate Tax Letter to House Small Business Committee Leadership 11-4-09

Coalition Advocacy

• FBETC urges Senate to Pass Immediate Estate Tax Relief 10-12-10
• FBETC urges House to Pass Immediate Estate Tax Relief 10-12-10
• FBETC Letter Supporting H.R. 3905 (Reps. Berkley/Brady) 11-9-09
• Family Business Estate Tax Coalition Lincoln-Kyl Letter 3-31-09
• Permanent Estate Tax Relief Letter to U.S. Senate 9-24-09
• Permanent Estate Tax Relief Letter to U.S. House 9-24-09
• Family Enterprise Coalition Letter to Tax Writing Committee Leadership 10-29-09
• FBETC Letter to Senate 12-15-09
• Letter in Support of Lincoln/Kyl proposal 7-19-10

Media Advocacy

• Printing Industries Announces Member Company Testifies on Estate Tax