An Act To Change the Exclusion Amount under the Estate Tax

Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §4102, sub-§5,  as amended by PL 2017, c. 474, Pt. G, §1, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:

Sec. 2. 36 MRSA §4119,  as enacted by PL 2017, c. 474, Pt. G, §2, is amended to read:

§ 4119. Annual adjustments for inflation in 2018 and 2019

Beginning in In 2018 and each year thereafter 2019, on or about September 15th, for the estates of decedents who die during the succeeding calendar year, the assessor shall multiply the cost-of-living adjustment by the dollar amount contained in section 4102, subsection 5 applicable to estates of decedents dying on or after January 1, 2018 but before January 1, 2020. For the purposes of this section, the "cost-of-living adjustment" is the Chained Consumer Price Index for the 12-month period ending June 30th of the preceding calendar year divided by the Chained Consumer Price Index for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2017.

summary

This bill reduces the exclusion amount, below which the Maine estate tax does not apply, to $1,000,000 from $5,600,000 for estates of decedents dying on or after January 1, 2020 and removes the annual adjustment for inflation of that exclusion amount.