Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Trifecta bill to be resurrected?

Tax Analysts ($) reports that some observers are speculating that the Senate could return its attention to the trifecta bill during the short, 19-day session in September session. Congress will adjourn in October for the balance of the election season.

Democrats would like to see the tax extenders portion of the trifecta bill stripped away, perhaps attached to a technical corrections bill that is expected to the Pension Reform Act. If the extenders aren't taken care of before the election, they might be addressed during a lame duck session in November.

The current state of the estate tax reform package gets a favorable write-up from CCH's Estate Planning Review, which lauds the reunification of the estate and gift tax and the restoration of progressivity to the transfer tax. Also, as one might expect, CHH suggests that no one wants to try carryover basis again, a complex scheme that had to be retroactively repealed the last time it was tried.

Perhaps estate tax reform will be less contentious in November, when its enactment can't help Republicans in the elections?
Posted by Jim Gust at 10:17 AM

1 comment:

JLM said...

November it will have to be, according to this report from The Hill:

"Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s (Tenn.) spokeswoman has said that a second vote on the so-called trifecta bill, which combined the minimum wage increase with tax cut extensions and the estate tax cut, was under consideration. But Senate Republicans know that such an attempt would surely run into the brick wall of another Democratic filibuster."

To add estate-tax reform to their Thanksgiving feast, however, Republicans will have to keep control of the House. As Lame Ducks, their chances of a Turkey day celebration would be nil.

11:21 AM

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