One issue of particular interest to business owners and executives in the coming Presidential election is estate taxes. Currently they kick in on estates worth more than $675,000 (or $1.35 million for a husband and wife). The rates are confiscatory-as high as 60%. Republicans have made repeal of death duties a key element of their platform, and a victory in November by George W. Bush could result in their elimination. Al Gore has offered a more modest adjustment of estate taxes, targeted at family-owned farms and small businesses, that would raise the $1.35 million exclusion to $4 million.
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