Schoesler Seeks To Make Fewer People Subject To Washington's Estate Tax

access.wa.gov, Mar 01, 2007

Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, recently introduced legislation seeking to protect more people from paying Washington's estate tax.

The estate tax was resuscitated by the Democrat-controlled Legislature in 2005 after the state Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional earlier that year. If a Washington resident whose estate is worth at least $1.5 million died before Jan. 1, 2006, or if a state resident whose estate is worth at least $2 million died on or after Jan. 1, 2006, the descendants have to pay the estate tax.

Schoesler's proposal, Senate Bill 5487, would increase the applicable exclusion amount for the estate tax. Under the bill, the estate tax threshold amounts must be increased by the growth factor for someone who dies on or after Jan. 1, 2008, and subsequently increased by the growth factor each Jan. 1 thereafter. Growth factor means the previous fiscal year's average consumer price index compiled by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics for Washington. Read more at access.wa.gov.