RIVERWOODS, Ill., Dec. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Following passage by the House of Representatives on December 3, 2009 of the Permanent Estate Tax Relief for Families, Farmers, and Small Business Act of 2009, CCH has issued a Special Tax Briefing on its provisions which, if adopted by the Senate, will provide certainty for estate taxes and estate planning, largely by freezing the status quo as of this year. Read the Briefing at http://tax.cchgroup.com/Legislation/2009-Estate-Tax-Relief.pdf.

"The House bill provides for a $3.5 million estate tax exclusion with no portability, a top estate tax rate of 45 percent, a continuation of stepped-up basis and ratifies the permanent repeal of the state death tax credit," said CCH Senior Estate Planning Analyst Bruno Graziano, JD, MSA.

The measure moves on to the Senate, where the bill's lack of indexing for inflation may pose a difficulty, but many observers believe some kind of estate tax "fix" is imperative this year.

"Without some new legislation in place, 2010 would see the complete abolition of the estate tax - for that year alone - but also a move to a 'modified carryover basis' system for valuing inherited assets that could increase the income tax burden of beneficiaries and would be very difficult for executors and accountants to deal with," Graziano said.

The Briefing also details the impact of the House bill on the gift tax and generation-skipping transfer tax.

CCH Tax Briefings

To read the Briefing, visit http://tax.cchgroup.com/Legislation/2009-Estate-Tax-Relief.pdf. Timely, current analysis of this and other tax legislation can be found at CCH Tax Legislation Coverage (http://tax.cchgroup.com/Legislation/Briefings).

About CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business

CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business (CCHGroup.com) is a leading provider of tax, accounting and audit information, software and services. It has served tax, accounting and business professionals since 1913. CCH is based in Riverwoods, Ill. Wolters Kluwer is a leading global information services and publishing company. Wolters Kluwer had 2008 annual revenues of euro 3.4 billion, employs approximately 20,000 people worldwide, and maintains operations in over 35 countries across Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. Wolters Kluwer is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands. Its shares are quoted on Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices. Visit www.wolterskluwer.com for information about our market positions, customers, brands, and organization.

SOURCE CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business

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