Death by taxes?

Posted by Marc Hodak on July 14, 2008 under Unintended consequences | Read the First Comment

A recent article in the WSJ identified the following incentive to staying alive:

Thousands of high-net-worth Americans who care about the financial well-being of their heirs have a powerful tax incentive to survive until at least Jan. 1, 2009. On that day, the federal estate-tax exclusion is scheduled to jump to $3.5 million from $2 million this year.

The article notes that an even bigger incentive will be provided the following year, in 2010, when the federal estate tax is scheduled to disappear entirely. On January 1, 2011, however, the estate tax is scheduled to reappear with only a $1 million exclusion. What incentive will that create?