"More than 40,000 estates of between $1 million and $10 million wouldn't have to pay inheritance taxes next year under the deal struck by Republicans and President Barack Obama.
The package would leave only about 3,500 of the largest estates subject to federal taxes next year, a boon for the wealthy that many House Democrats say they can't accept.
...House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the lower estate tax "a bridge too far," while others in her caucus said it was a giveaway to the rich that would do little to create jobs.
The federal estate tax reaches fewer than 1 percent of inheritances...
...under current law, the estate tax is scheduled to return next year with a top rate of 55 percent for estates larger than $1 million for individuals and $2 million for married couples.
The package Obama negotiated would set the top rate at 35 percent and exempt the first $5 million of an individual's estate. Couples could exempt $10 million.
At those levels, the tax would affect just 0.14 percent of all estates in 2011...
Under the current law, more than 44,000 estates would be taxed next year, generating $34.4 billion in taxes.
...It is a "sensible estate tax agreement," the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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