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Abstract: 

Most thought Congress would step in with at least a temporary extension of the 2009 levels . . . but none of this happened. The estate tax actually expired with the dawn of 2010, and no concrete progress has been seen. Congress had nearly 10 years to rescue American taxpayers and their estate planners from the uncertainty of estate tax repeal but just couldn’t get around to it. The plan hatched in 2001 was goofy, with higher exemptions and lower top rates through 2009, then a one-year repeal for this year and a resurgent estate tax in 2011 with rates and exemptions reverting to 2001 levels. It may have been explainable, but it was nevertheless categorically goofy.

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