Estate tax safety net

According to Tax Notes Today ($) no one expects the Senate to take up the permanent estate tax reform bill passed in the House December 4 (H.R. 4154, the Pomeroy bill). Accordingly, the House leadership is looking at backup plans, to avoid the lapse of the estate tax advocated by The Wall Street Journal, among others.

One idea, according to Tax Notes, is to attach a temporary extension of the 2009 law to "must pass" legislation. A leading candidate is the defense appropriations bill, which will be taken up December 14 and which must be passed by December 18. That would be something that the Senate cannot just ignore.

No word yet as to how long the temporary fix would last.