After delays and much debate, House members today voted 277-148 to pass the Senate’s version of the H.R. 4853 tax bill and send it to President Obama.
Earlier, House members voted 194-233 to block efforts to add an estate tax amendment proposed by Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., to the bill.
The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA) phased out the estate tax this year. Under EGTRRA rules, the estate tax was set to spring back to 2001 levels, with a $1 million personal exemption and a 55% top tax rate, in 2011.
The Pomeroy amendment would have set the personal exemption at $3.5 million and the top rate at 45% for 2 years.
The version of the bill that passed in the Senate Wednesday would set the personal exemption at $5 million and the top rate at 35% for 2 years.