New Jersey to repeal estate tax

Last week, the New Jersey legislature announced its plan to repeal estate tax by January 2018.  The New Jersey estate tax is presently one of the highest in the nation.

For state residents the estate tax exemption would be increased from its current level of $675,000 to $2 million per person by January 2017. Then in January 2018, the estate tax will be repealed altogether. For non-residents, the proposal eliminates a provision that imposed estate tax on the New Jersey property of non-resident decedents.

But inheritance tax remains

As well as the estate tax, New Jersey has an inheritance tax that applies to non-lineal heirs (i.e. not a spouse, children, grandchildren, or remoter issue). The exemption for inheritance tax is very low, however, at $500. It is unclear whether the state’s inheritance tax will be affected by the proposal.

Federal estate tax under debate

Both these taxes differ from the federal estate tax which presidential candidate Donald Trump vows to repeal should he win the upcoming November 8, election. Democrat Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, wants to reduce the current $5.45 million exemption to $3.5 million and add rates of 50 percent, 55 percent, and a top 65 percent rate for estates of $500 million or more. Stay tuned…there is a lot at stake in the upcoming election.

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