A group of panelists at an Estate Planning Institute Seminar sponsored by the Georgetown University Law center on March 2 generally agreed that the effort to enact a gradual repeal of the estate tax will probably succeed this year. Despite the recent push by some wealthy taxpayer's to keep, but reform, the tax, the panelists (including John Buckley, chief tax counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee Democrats, and Elizabeth Paris, tax counsel for Senate Finance Committee Republicans) believe that the repeal's popularity virtually guarantees its passage.

Last year, the House voted 279 to 136 in favor of repeal, while the Senate passed it 59 to 39, which was not enough to override Bill Clinton's veto. This year the margins in Congress may be slimmer, but the repeal still has bipartisan support. However, Buckley emphasized that technical issues would likely slow the process.