I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3905 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the 1-year termination 
of the estate tax, to increase the estate and gift tax unified credit, 
and to coordinate a reduction in the maximum rate of tax with a 
phaseout of the deduction for State death taxes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 22, 2009 
Ms. BERKLEY (for herself, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, and 
Mr. NUNES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal 
the 1-year termination of the estate tax, to increase 
the estate and gift tax unified credit, and to coordinate 
a reduction in the maximum rate of tax with a phaseout 
of the deduction for State death taxes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Estate Tax Relief Act 
of 2009’’. 
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SEC. 2. RESTORATION OF ESTATE TAX; REPEAL OF CARRY-
OVER BASIS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The following provisions of the 
Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 
2001, and the amendments made by such provisions, are 
hereby repealed: 
(1) Subtitles A and E of title V. 
(2) Subsection (d), and so much of subsection 
(f)(3) as relates to subsection (d), of section 511. 
(3) Paragraph (2) of subsection (b), and para-
graph (2) of subsection (e), of section 521. 
The Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall be applied as 
if such provisions and amendments had never been en-
acted. 
(b) SUNSET NOT TO APPLY.— 
(1) Subsection (a) of section 901 of the Eco-
nomic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 
2001 is amended by striking ‘‘this Act’’ and all that 
follows and inserting ‘‘this Act (other than title V) 
shall not apply to taxable, plan, or limitation years 
beginning after December 31, 2010.’’. 
(2) Subsection (b) of such section 901 is 
amended by striking ‘‘, estates, gifts, and transfers’’. 
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SEC. 3. INCREASE IN UNIFIED CREDIT AGAINST THE ES-
TATE TAX. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The table in subsection (c) of sec-
tion 2010 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating 
to applicable credit amount) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘In the case of estates of 
The applicable 
decedents dying during: 
exclusion amount is: 
2009 ..................................................................................
$3,500,000
2010 ..................................................................................
$3,650,000
2011 ..................................................................................
$3,800,000
2012 ..................................................................................
$3,950,000
2013 ..................................................................................
$4,100,000
2014 ..................................................................................
$4,250,000
2015 ..................................................................................
$4,400,000
2016 ..................................................................................
$4,550,000
2017 ..................................................................................
$4,700,000
2018 ..................................................................................
$4,850,000
2019 or thereafter .............................................................
$5,000,000.’’. 
(b) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—Subsection (c) of sec-
tion 2010 of such Code, as amended by subsection (a), 
is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘For purposes of this section,’’ 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec-
tion,’’, and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(2) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—In the case of 
any decedent dying in a calendar year after 2019, 
the $5,000,000 amount in paragraph (1) shall be in-
creased by an amount equal to— 
‘‘(A) such dollar amount, multiplied by 
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‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter-
mined under section 1(f)(3) for such calendar 
year, determined by substituting ‘2018’ for 
‘1992’ in subparagraph (B) thereof. 
If any increase determined under the preceding sen-
tence is not a multiple of $10,000, such increase 
shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of 
$10,000.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to estates of decedents dying, and 
gifts made, after December 31, 2008. 
SEC. 4. COORDINATED REDUCTION IN MAXIMUM RATE OF 
TAX WITH TERMINATION OF DEDUCTION FOR 
STATE DEATH TAXES. 
(a) PHASEIN OF REDUCTION IN MAXIMUM RATE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The table in subparagraph 
(B) of section 2001(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 (relating to maximum rate) is amend-
ed to read as follows: 
‘‘In calendar year: 
The maximum rate is: 
2009 ..................................................................................
45 percent
2010 ..................................................................................
44 percent
2011 ..................................................................................
43 percent
2012 ..................................................................................
42 percent
2013 ..................................................................................
41 percent
2014 ..................................................................................
40 percent
2015 ..................................................................................
39 percent
2016 ..................................................................................
38 percent
2017 ..................................................................................
37 percent
2018 ..................................................................................
36 percent
2019 or thereafter .............................................................
35 percent.’’. 
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(2) CONFORMING
AND
TECHNICAL
AMEND-
MENTS.— 
(A) Section 2001(c)(2)(A) of such Code is 
amended by striking ‘‘after 2002 and before 
2010’’ and inserting ‘‘after 2008’’. 
(B) Section 2001(c)(2)(A)(ii) of such Code 
is amended by striking ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’ and 
inserting ‘‘clause (i)’’. 
(b) PHASEOUT OF DEDUCTION FOR STATE DEATH 
TAXES.—Section 2058 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 (relating to deduction for State death taxes) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(c) PHASEOUT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of estates of 
decedents dying in a calendar year beginning after 
December 31, 2008, the deduction under subsection 
(a) shall be equal to the applicable percentage of the 
amount which would (but for this subsection) be the 
amount of such deduction. 
‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—For purposes 
of paragraph (1), the applicable percentage shall be 
determined in accordance with the following table: 
‘‘In the case of taxes paid in cal-
endar year: 
The applicable percentage 
is: 
2009 ..................................................................................
100 percent
2010 ..................................................................................
90 percent
2011 ..................................................................................
80 percent
2012 ..................................................................................
70 percent
2013 ..................................................................................
60 percent
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