Congress Could Utilize Retroactive Tax Amendment for Estate Tax

The Gay Couples Law Blog contains a post by Gideon Alper entitled Estate Tax Repeal in 2010 Not a Big Deal Because Congress Can Pass Retroactive Tax Amendment, Sept. 21, 2009.  According to Gideon, Congress can constitutionally pass a retroactive tax amendment if it is has a rational legislative purpose, and an estate tax amendment in 2010 should be able to satisfy this low standard.  This means Congress would not have to address the estate tax this year.

The blog post also suggests that Congress would choose to address the slated estate tax repeal retroactively because (1) revenue losing implications of a short solution are easier to balance than similar implications of a long term solution and (2) addressing the issue during re-election years could mean favorable campaign donations for individual congressmen.

See Gideon Alper, Estate Tax Repeal in 2010 Not a Big Deal Because Congress Can Pass Retroactive Tax Amendment, Gay Couples Law Blog, Sept. 21, 2009.