Confiscatory 55% Death Tax Set to Take Effect

Current Law
The 2001 tax relief bill (EGTRRA), drastically  reduced the impact of the death tax over the course of a decade, so that it was  eliminated entirely for one year in 2010 — a good year to die, joked a number of  pundits. The bill lowered marginal rates and increased the applicable exclusion  amount, but it also included a provision allowing individuals to carry over  exclusion dollars that were unused by their spouse at the time of his or her  death. This “portability” measure effectively increased the applicable exclusion  for many households, in some instances putting millions of dollars beyond the  reach of the federal government.

The death tax rose from the grave at the end of 2010, with a Bush-era top  rate of 35% and an applicable exclusion amount of $5 million ($5.12 million in  2012).

Scheduled Changes
In 2013, the death tax will revert to its  antiquated, pre-2001 form. The applicable exclusion amount will plummet to  $1,000,000, and the top marginal rate will leap twenty points to 55%. A 5%  surtax will also return, to be levied on estates between $10 million and $17  million. This raises the top effective rate of the death tax to 60%.

10 Year Cost to Taxpayers: Congressional Budget Office: $516 billion

Read more: http://atr.org/dont-die-confiscatory-percent-death-tax-a7051#ixzz21Th9lrIA