As I have previously discussed, several states have decided to either reduce their estate tax or eliminate it entirely. The politicians in these states are of the opinion that the estate tax fails to bring in the revenue that it should. Some of these politicians argue that an estate tax does not bring in revenue at all because citizens of states with estate tax tend to move to states with no estate tax. Thus, the estate tax makes it cheaper to die in one state than another. As a result, those states with a higher estate tax stand to lose more money than a state without an estate tax. The income state gap between traditionally Republican and traditionally Democratic states has become more apparent as a result of more states deciding to eliminate or reduce their estate tax. According to Stephen Moore (Economist and Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute), “[t]he blue states are getting bluer and the red states are getting redder.”
See Janet Novack, Gap Between High Tax And Low Tax States Widening, Forbes, Apr. 10, 2012.
Special thanks to David S. Luber (Attorney at law, Florida Probate Attorney Wills and Estates Law Firm) for bringing this article to my attention.
