Just when you thought Congress would never solve its tax and spending problems, it has taken a bold step forward: It has suspended the laws of nature and arithmetic starting January 1, 2010. Just wait until you see what it has in mind:

If you’re single, not in great health, and are worth a lot but not a really huge lot, you could do your heirs a favor and die today or tomorrow. Sure, you may want to hang around to ring in the New Year but that could cost the beneficiaries of your will a chunk of change.

Let’s face it, from a tax policy perspective, 2009 was a bust. Except for creating a bunch of new credits in the name of economic stimulus, Washington pretty much ignored the revenue code. 2010 will be very different. Facing trillions of dollars of expiring Bush-era tax cuts, President Obama and Congress will be forced to make some critical decisions in the new year.

As 2009 draws to an icy conclusion, Tax Vox is pleased to announce its Third Annual Lump of Coal Award for the worst tax ideas of the year. So many choices. So little time.

Two cheers for San Francisco. At least one agency in the city by the bay has been trying to require non-profits that receive public funds to show concrete results in return for the money. This sort of performance-based budgeting has been all the rage among consultants for years, but San Francisco is doing it. And it is not easy.

Congress is having one if its periodic infatuations with the idea of using an independent commission to push it to do what it clearly does not want to do—tackle the deficit and long-term debt in the only ways possible, by cutting spending and raising taxes.

Thanks to Senate gridlock, taxpayers engaged in estate planning will suffer whiplash over coming months as the federal estate tax disappears and reappears, possibly unexpectedly and retroactively.
When the Senate refused to act Wednesday, it opened the door for the estate tax to disappear in two weeks–although no one knows for how long. Not only will the tax end, but the gift tax rate will fall to 35 percent. And, hardly noticed by most, only some assets inherited in 2010 will get “step-up” in basis.

Interesting discussion today at a TPC forum on the tax and benefits consequences of being gay. The benefit issues are probably larger, but this is TaxVox, so let’s look at taxes.

It is almost 2010, and Congress is scrambling to figure out what it is going to do about the estate tax.
In some perverse way, it’s fun to watch lawmakers dive into a mess largely of their own making. But as you do, don’t be distracted by the argument over the size of estates that should be excluded from tax, or whether the rules are extended for one year or two. The real argument is over the rate. That’s where the bucks are.

The UK recently instituted a 50% tax on bankers' bonuses and France is reportedly about to follow suit. German chancellor, Angela Merkel, is said to like the idea, but would prefer to institute a tax on financial transactions. Even economist Paul Krugman said that, at first blush, the bonus tax “looks entirely reasonable.” Sure, it might drive the best and the brightest out of the finance business, but that would be a good thing.