On Jan. 1, the value of assets that can pass tax-free from one generation to the next rose from $1.5 million to $2 million (or $4 million per couple), an increase that was scheduled under the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA), passed by Congress in 2001. This expansion of tax-free inheritance means an even smaller fraction of a percent of Americans will be subject to the tax in 2006. Underscoring this fact, United for a Fair Economy released new estimates last week indicating that less than one-third of one percent of all U.S. estates will be affected by the federal estate tax in 2006. Only 0.27 percent--or one in every 370 estates--will pay any estate tax in 2006, according to the UFE report. This is down significantly from the 2.18 percent who paid the tax in 2000. A pervasive misconception, often put forward by anti-tax interests, is that the estate tax hits many taxpayers who can't afford to pay it. This year, every penny of 99.73 percent of all estates will be passed on tax-free. The estate tax--which is the nation's most progressive tax--provides important balance to a tax code that has shifted an increasingly greater part of the burden onto low- and middle-income Americans. While the House voted to repeal the tax last April, the Senate has yet to vote on the issue during this Congress. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), the GOP point-person on the estate tax, recently said he will ask Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) to hold an estate tax vote early this year, in order to avoid a vote on the divisive issue too close to the November elections. Last year, the Senate was forced to postpone a vote on the estate tax because of Hurricane Katrina, and many believe a vote will be difficult for Republican leadership to schedule any time soon. U.S. Chamber of Commerce Vice President Bruce Josten recently commented, "I suspect the budget, the deficit, expecting another supplemental request for Iraq this year at some point, the probability of raising the debt limit, makes the forecast on [estate] tax full repeal pretty cloudy." Under current law, the estate tax exemption level will gradually rise through 2009--when it peaks at $3.5 million (and $7 million for couples)--then the tax is completely repealed in 2010, only to return in 2011 at 2001 levels (a $1 million exemption). How and when this strange situation, which is unacceptable to either side of the estate tax debate, will be resolved, remains unclear.