Obama Plans to Keep Estate Tax, Journal Reports

President-elect Barack Obama plans to keep the estate tax from expiring next year, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Obama and Congressional Democrats plan to act quickly to keep the tax from being repealed, as it is scheduled to in 2010, the paper said in a front-page story.

Under a rate that took effect this year, estates of $3.5 million or less — $7 million for couples — would be exempt from taxation, the Journal said.

If the tax were returned to Clinton-era levels, it would exclude just $1 million from taxation, with the rest taxed at a 55% rate, the paper reported.