LePage Wants to Do Away with Estate Tax

Maine Gov. Paul LePage is introducing legislation to eliminate the tax that Mainers pay when they inherit large estates.

Under current law, estates valued at nearly $5.5 million are exempt from the estate tax, which is triggered when the ownership of a property transfers as a result of death.

The Legislature last year more than doubled the previous $2 million state exemption to bring Maine's tax code line with the federal tax code. The higher exemption went into effect on Jan. 1

In the six-month period that ended on Dec. 31, Maine collected $12.6 million in revenues from the estate tax, but that figure is expected to decline in future years because of the higher exemption.