Should an individual’s already-taxed estate be subject to more taxes at death? If yes, then at what rate? Many states are looking into these questions and responding by raising the exemptions for estate taxes or getting rid of the taxes entirely. The District of Columbia recently followed suit by increasing the estate tax exemption from $1 million to $2 million. The exemption is expected to increase to match the $5.49 million federal exemption by 2018. There was some outcry to halt the scheduled cuts but to no avail. Councilmember David Grosso claimed that the loss of the estate tax revenue was a burden on the poorest and most marginalized population in D.C. In spite of the familiar rhetoric, the general trend among the states has tended to be either a full repeal of their estate taxes or an increase in the allowable exemption.
See Ashlea Ebeling, District of Columbia Slashes Estate Tax, Forbes, May 31, 2017.
Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.
