$3.5 Million Estate Tax Exemption, 45% Estate Tax Rate, and One Big Yawn

Last Thursday President Obama finally put his estate tax card on the table. Through Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the president told House Speaker John Boehner that beginning in 2013 the estate tax exemption should be set at $3.5 million (down from $5.12 million in 2012) and the estate tax rate should be set at 45% (up from 35% in 2012). Obama has supported these numbers since he was a presidential candidate in 2008 and has included them in his budget proposals as president (these numbers actually went into effect for just one year in 2009), so those of us who have been monitoring the estate tax situation simply yawned - same thing, different year. More importantly, those of us who have been monitoring the estate tax situation are quite aware of a contingency of Senate Democrats who do not support Obama's estate tax stance and instead want to extend the 2012 exemption and rate (one even has gone so far as to say that he would support "scrapping the estate tax altogether"). All of this begs the question, will the president win the estate tax battle? I really don't think so.

• Analysis: Democrats' discord undercuts Obama estate tax push
• Obama's first offer on estate tax
• Plan to Raise Estate Tax Divides Democrats
• Both House and Senate have passed tax bills that would put off big tax increases for millions
• Will the 2009 Federal Estate Tax Rules Be Reinstated?
• What is the Future of the Federal Estate Tax?