Legislative Background
Recent Action on the Estate Tax
The estate tax has been a subject of congressional debate for nearly a decade. In 1997, Congress increased the $600,000 estate tax exemption gradually to $1 million by 2006. In 2000, the House and Senate passed legislation to repeal the estate tax, but President Bill Clinton vetoed the bill, saying that it failed"the test of the future, both in terms of fairness and fiscal responsibility." In 2001, tax cut legislation signed into law by President George W. Bush set in motion a gradual phase-out of the tax, culminating in a full elimination in 2010. Concerned about budget restraints, Congress wrote…
