WASHINGTON, DC — The Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors — National Association (PHCC) showed impeccable timing by holding its fifth annual legislative conference on March 29, the day the House Ways & Means Committee approved a bill (H.R. 8) phasing out the federal estate tax by 2011. The PHCC legislative meeting at the Phoenix Park Hotel, whose front door stands a stone’s throw from the Capitol, was dedicated to an update on prospects for ending the estate tax.
The estate tax can run upwards of 55% of the value of the assets over $650,000 (soon to be $1 million) received by one family member from another. The House bill, called the Death Tax Elimination Act, was passed by the full House last week by a 274 to 154 vote.