THE VOTE: Senate Republicans will push for a vote this week on permanently repealing the estate tax even though Democrats’ opposition may defeat the measure.

GETTING THERE: The tax has fallen as a result of gradually escalating exemptions and decreasing rates since President Bush’s tax cut in 2001.

FOR KEEPS? In 2010, the tax will disappear. But without congressional action, it will return with a vengeance in 2011, when the top tax rate on estates reverts to 55 percent and the exemption shrinks to $675,000.