- Jun 6, 2007
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- 483
- 910
It is flabbergasting that the Congress and the President are going to allow there to be no estate tax this year. The law as it exists today provided an estate tax for 2009 but let it expire for 2010 and then brought it back for 2011 at a rate of 55% (I believe). It is absolutely unbelievable that Washington is allowing there to be no estate tax for 2010. The American people have over the last three years heard thousands and thousands of experts in the media predict when the estate tax expired Washington would enact an estate tax for 2010, if one made a "You Tube" video of these experts comments it would run for hours. If this "no estate tax for 2010" remains it will probably be the first time in ten plus years there was no federal estate tax. The legal community, the accounting community for that matter the majority of the American people including wealthy Americans had expected there to be such a tax, Washington officials are really failing in doing their job in not correcting this situation. The Congress and the President by their inaction in passing any type of reasonable estate tax for 2010 are probably foregoing $15 plus billion dollars of tax revenue from the 2010 tax year, money the American people could desperately use for many outstandingly good purposes!
The other thing that Congress and the President seem to be rather short sighted on in this tax cut deal is the provisions in the bill that allow businesses to expense one hundred percent of the purchase price of capital expenses purchased in 2011. This tax deduction is an excellent tax deduction it is a fully terrific initiative to help the economy. The aspect of this that seems to be amiss is the same type of problem America saw with the first time buyer home purchase tax credit program or the cash for clunker program from the 2009 Economic Stimulus law which is that the program leaves a void in economic activity immediately after the program ends. America doesn't want to see a rush of business capital purchases at the end of 2011 than in 2012 business capital purchases be in the cellar, really poor, this will wreak havoc with businesses stock prices, inventory purchases and employment. The Congress and the President in this tax cut extension bill should make favorable the law on expensing capital expenditures for the year 2012 and 2013, say make it that in 2012 a business for that year can expense one-half of the price of capital expenditures and in 2013 a business for that year can expense one-quarter of the price of capital expenditures, in other words, the Congress in the bill should be smoothing out the economic effect on the national economy of this tax benefit program!
The other thing that Congress and the President seem to be rather short sighted on in this tax cut deal is the provisions in the bill that allow businesses to expense one hundred percent of the purchase price of capital expenses purchased in 2011. This tax deduction is an excellent tax deduction it is a fully terrific initiative to help the economy. The aspect of this that seems to be amiss is the same type of problem America saw with the first time buyer home purchase tax credit program or the cash for clunker program from the 2009 Economic Stimulus law which is that the program leaves a void in economic activity immediately after the program ends. America doesn't want to see a rush of business capital purchases at the end of 2011 than in 2012 business capital purchases be in the cellar, really poor, this will wreak havoc with businesses stock prices, inventory purchases and employment. The Congress and the President in this tax cut extension bill should make favorable the law on expensing capital expenditures for the year 2012 and 2013, say make it that in 2012 a business for that year can expense one-half of the price of capital expenditures and in 2013 a business for that year can expense one-quarter of the price of capital expenditures, in other words, the Congress in the bill should be smoothing out the economic effect on the national economy of this tax benefit program!
