House Votes to Raise Estate Tax this Week

Curtis Dubay / November 30, 2009

The U.S. House of Representative could vote as early as Wednesday of this week to increase the estate tax (known popularly as the death tax). The bill it will consider, sponsored by Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-North Dakota), would extend permanently the death tax at its current 45 percent rate and $3.5 million exemption. This extension would be a drastic tax increase since the death tax expires on January 1, 2010.

In addition, the Pomeroy bill would be a repudiation of the policy stands of several past Congresses that all agreed the death tax must go. They came to that conclusion with good reason. Heritage research has shown that the death tax is a severe hindrance to the economy because it:
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