Senate Blesses Concept Of Estate Tax Cuts

The Baucus amendment does not directly mention the estate tax. Instead, the amendment would let Congress use up to $180 billion to cut a variety of taxes, including the federal estate tax. But Baucus talked about making the 2009 estate tax rules permanent during a discussion of his amendment on the Senate floor.

Senators rejected several other budget resolution estate tax amendments this week.

Members of the Senate voted 51-48 against Amendment Number 583, offered by Sen. John Kyl, R-Ariz.

The Kyl amendment would have increased the exemption on estates to $5 million per person, indexed for inflation, and set the top death tax rate at no more than 35% beginning in 2010.

Kyl led the effort in prior Republican-controlled Congresses to pass legislation that would have repealed the estate tax or cut it sharply.

Senators voted 55-44 against Amendment Number 578, offered by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C.

The DeMint amendment would have repealed the estate tax completely in 2010.

Senators voted 74-25 against Amendment Number 626, offered by Sens. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and Mary Landrieu, D-La.

The Nelson-Lincoln-Landrieu estate tax amendment would have lowered the top effective tax rate to 35% and increased the exemption to $5 million. But that proposal also would have been subject to the Senate's pay-as-you-go rules, which would mean that the Senate would have to raise taxes or cut spending to offset the cost of the anticipated estate tax revenue reductions. Most Republicans voted against the amendment.