House passes Estate Tax Changes

The House voted to extend the estate tax on wealthy households. The changes passed by the House would make the $3.5M exemption permanent. If the law isn't modified then the estate tax would be repealed for 2010 and then drop back to the old $1M exemption after that.

But its not law yet. It will also have to pass the Senate and get signed by the president before it is law but this is one step. It might take a while for the Senate to get around to debating the issue since they're busy with health care reform and its possible the Senate won't go for the House's version and it could get modified or die altogether.

This shouldn't impact the vast majority of us. Most of us won't die with millions in the bank in any case.