What to Do if the Estate Tax Gets Repealed

Washington has good news and bad news for wealthy taxpayers. The good news is, there's reason to believe this could be the year that a repeal of the estate tax finally gets signed into law.

The bad news is, it won't do you much good if you die in the next 10 years, because the tax repeal in the current version of the bill wouldn't actually take effect until 2011. So keep popping those vitamins and thank the feds for giving you one more reason to live to a ripe old age.

Of course, the tax repeal hasn't been signed into law yet, but its prospects look pretty good. President Bush has come out strongly in favor of the legislation, which the House of Representatives approved two weeks ago, and it's currently awaiting action in the Senate, which approved a similar bill last year. While it's not certain what the final version will look like, supporters are hopeful that a repeal of the estate tax will be enacted in some form.

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