Gov. Paul LePage has again proposed legislation that would eliminate Maine’s estate tax, which is the tax assessed on estates after the owner dies and property becomes available for inheritance.
This is the latest of numerous failed attempts by LePage to eliminate the estate tax, which he calls the “death tax.” He included a similar provision as part of his biennial budget proposal in 2015, but the Legislature amended the budget bill to make the estate tax apply only to estates valued at more than $5.5 million, and only on the value of those estates above $5.5 million.
When LePage took office, the threshold was $1 million in estate value — and assessed only on value above $1 million — but that was doubled in 2013 to $2 million.
