Sam Goldfarb, Kyl Says Momentum Is Building for His Estate Tax Proposal, 2010 TNT 112-2 (June 11, 2010):

Senate Finance Committee member Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said June 10 that he is “pretty close” to gathering the 60 votes needed to pass a bill that would establish the estate tax at a 35 percent top rate with a $5 million exemption level.

Although many Republicans have long wanted to abolish the estate tax, and many Democrats favor continuing the tax at its 2009 levels, Kyl has been among a few senators pushing for what they see as a compromise between those two approaches.

The estate tax expired at the end of 2009 but is scheduled to return in 2011 with a 55% top rate and a $1 million exemption. The House in December passed H.R. 4154, the Permanent Estate Tax Relief for Families, Farmers, and Small Businesses Act of 2009, which would make permanent the 2009 estate tax levels with a top rate of 45% and a $3.5 million exemption.

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