WASHINGTON, DC -- As members of Congress get ready to return to Washington, a U.S. Senator from Arizona is already reaching out across the aisle to boost momentum for passing permanent death tax repeal.
 
Congress Daily reports that Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) is planning to bring the issue of permanent estate tax--commonly known as the death tax--repeal to the Senate floor this year, and has “already reached out to select Democrats” in an effort to “revive talks toward a permanent compromise on the tax.”

The news source notes that Sen. Kyl is planning to ask Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) to allow a vote on a permanent death tax repeal measure early in the New Year.

“It’s a bit of unfinished business from last year. I would prefer to get it done before things get too heated up,” Sen. Kyl said in a telephone interview with Congress Daily.

During the previous legislative session, discussions between Kyl and his Democratic colleagues focused on lowering the estate tax rate “to anywhere from 15 percent to 45 percent” and to exempt all but the largest estates, writes the news source.

Meanwhile, business advocates in favor of full and permanent repeal want to make sure Sen. Kyl “has a fall-back compromise in place” should a vote on full repeal take place.

“We need to make sure the people who are for full repeal know that every effort has been made to get to that repeal. They need to know that it is a straight process,” said Jade West of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, told Congress Daily.

“A lot of people in the business community are still very desirous of having permanent repeal. But if they see that the votes aren’t there, realistically they would see that certain types of compromise would be almost as good as full repeal,” said Kyl.   

According to NACS 2005 State of the Industry, the investment in a typical urban convenience store is $2.919 million, while that for a rural store is $1.773 million.

“Permanent repeal of the death tax would be a significant victory for many convenience store owners,” NACS Vice President of Government Relations John Eichberger told NACS Daily. “Store owners who want their businesses to remain family-owned and -operated face a significant tax burden if the death tax comes back in 2011 as is currently planned. If the repeal is not made permanent, as one NACS member succinctly put it, retailers may have to strategically schedule their deaths before the tax returns.”