For single people and heads of households, the exemption would rise to $42,500, from $40,250 last year.

The exemption has since risen to 54 cents a gallon.

Now, with the exemption gradually rising to $1 million in 2006, many documents will have to be revised.

The personal exemption, for its part, has risen along with inflation, reaching $3,300 this year.

Under the Bush tax cuts, the exemptions from the estate tax have been rising steadily.

He said the marital deduction was gone, though their personal exemption had risen.

Estate taxes are not imposed on inheritances under $675,000, and that exemption will rise to $1 million by 2006, or $2 million for couples with some planning.

Rents would be stabilized for the decade in which the exemptions were in force but could then rise to market rates.

Under the House bill, the exemption rises to $5 million, and is indexed to inflation in later years.

The first $675,000 of an estate is exempt from the tax at present, and under current law the exemption will rise to $1 million by 2006.