Does Your State Have an Estate or Inheritance Tax?

by Janelle Cammenga, Tax Foundation, September 2, 2020

In addition to the federal estate tax, with a top rate of 40 percent, some states levy an additional estate or inheritance tax. Twelve states and the District of Columbia impose estate taxes and six impose inheritance taxes. Maryland is the only state to impose both now that New Jersey has repealed its inheritance tax.

Hawaii and Washington State have the highest estate tax top rates in the nation at 20 percent. Washington has been at the top for a while, but Hawaii raised its previous top rate of 16 percent on January 1. Eight states and the District of Columbia are next with a top rate of 16 percent, a figure derived from an earlier era where states could “soak up” a portion of the federal estate tax without increasing the taxpayer’s overall liability, which is no longer the case. Massachusetts and Oregon have the lowest exemption levels at $1 million, and New York has the highest exemption level at $5.9 million.

Of the six states with inheritance taxes, Nebraska has the highest top rate at 18 percent. Maryland imposes the lowest top rate at 10 percent. All six states exempt spouses, and some fully or partially exempt immediate relatives.

Estate taxes are paid by the decedent’s estate before assets are distributed to heirs, and are thus imposed on the overall value of the estate. Inheritance taxes are remitted by the recipient of a bequest, and are thus based on the amount distributed to each beneficiary.

In 1926, the federal government began offering a generous federal credit for state estate taxes, meaning taxpayers were paying the same amount in estate taxes whether or not their state levied the tax. This made estate taxes an attractive option for states. After the federal government fully phased out the state estate tax credit, some states stopped collecting estate taxes by default, as their provisions were directly linked with the federal credit, while others responded by repealing their tax legislatively.

Most states have been moving away from estate or inheritance taxes or have raised their exemption levels, as estate taxes without the federal exemption hurt a state’s competitiveness. Delaware repealed its estate tax at the beginning of 2018. New Jersey finished phasing out its estate tax at the same time, and now only imposes an inheritance tax.

In the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the federal government raised the estate tax exclusion from $5.49 million to $11.2 million per person, though this provision expires December 31, 2025.

Estate and inheritance taxes are burdensome. They disincentivize business investment and can drive high-net-worth individuals out-of-state. They also yield estate planning and tax avoidance strategies that are inefficient, not only for affected taxpayers, but for the economy at large. The handful of states that still impose them should consider eliminating them or at least conforming to federal exemption levels.