Trucking business interests responded favorably to the passage of a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to end the estate tax.

The Death Tax Elimination Act of 2001 was introduced as a bipartisan measure on March 16 2001 by Rep. Jennifer Dunn (R-Wash.) and Rep. John Tanner (D-Tenn.). It passed Wednesday by a 274-154 vote.
"This is a great day for thousands of small, family-built and family-owned trucking companies," said Walter McCormick Jr. president of the American Trucking Associations. "For too long, the 'death tax' has been a threat to their survival."
ATA urged the Senate to pass the legislation, as well. "Otherwise, if this tax remains in place, as many as one-third of today's small businesses, including family-run trucking companies, may eventually have to be sold to meet estate tax liabilities."
NATSO, the association representing America's truckstops and travel plazas, also had praise for the vote. NATSO President Dewey Clower called it "a crucial step towards preserving family-owned travel plazas and truckstops."
The law currently states that estates valued at less than $675,000 are exempt from the tax. The rate of exemption is scheduled to rise to $700,000 next year, $850,000 in 2004, $950,000 in 2005 and $1 million by 2006. The House legislation maintains the current scheduled exemption increases, but the top 55 percent tax rate would be reduced over a 10-year period. As of 2002, the top rate would drop to 53 percent, with a gradual yearly decline creating a full repeal of the tax by 2011. Additionally, a 5 percent surtax on estates valued over $10 million would be eliminated at the start of next year.