Washington State levies a tax on the estate of of residents based upon their total “taxable estate”. The current estate tax, or death tax, rates range from 10% to 19% and are given in the table below. The tax is also applied to non-residents based upon the total property located in Washington State. Here are a few details regarding the Washington State estate tax:
- The “taxable estate” includes both probate and non-probate assets, so transferring assets into a revocable living trust does not protect them from state estate taxes.
- A married person’s “taxable estate” includes all of their separate property plus 1/2 of the community property. Life insurance proceeds are generally included 100% in the taxable estate.
- The value of all assets inherited by a surviving spouse are exempt from tax. However, without proper estate planning this only serves to delay and not eliminate or reduce the tax due.
- Washington State exempts the first $2 million in assets from the “taxable estate”. Since this exemption is less than the current federal exemption of $5 million, Washington State estate tax considerations should be a part of every estate plan.
- The $2 million exemption is not “portable” to a surviving spouse, meaning the decedent’s estate must use the exemption or lose it.
- Washington State does not have a tax on lifetime (“inter vivos”) gifts(unlike the IRS which taxes you on the value over $13,000 gifted to each individual each year). This raises very important lifetime gifting opportunities for those Washington residents with estate valued over $2 million. You should discuss these strategies with an Estate Planning Attorney.
- The Washington State estate tax return is due 9 months from the date of death.
I have included the Washington State estate tax table below, remember that a “taxable estate” in Washington is the taxable assets minus the $2 million exemption (in other words, the “taxable estate” is the amount over $2 million).
See my a previous post for more discussion on the 2011 and 2012 estate tax landscape, both federal and state for Washington residents.
| If Washington Taxable Estate | The Amount of Tax Equals | Of Washington Taxable Estate Value Greater Than | ||
| Is at Least | But Less Than | Initial Tax Amount | Plus Tax Rate % | |
| $0 | $1,000,000 | $0 | 10.00% | $0 |
| $1,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $100,000 | 14.00% | $1,000,000 |
| $2,000,000 | $3,000,000 | $240,000 | 15.00% | $2,000,000 |
| $3,000,000 | $4,000,000 | $390,000 | 16.00% | $3,000,000 |
| $4,000,000 | $6,000,000 | $550,000 | 17.00% | $4,000,000 |
| $6,000,000 | $7,000,000 | $890,000 | 18.00% | $6,000,000 |
| $7,000,000 | $9,000,000 | $1,070,000 | 18.50% | $7,000,000 |
| Above $9,000,000 | $1,440,000 | 19.00% | Above $9,000,000 | |
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November 27, 2011 at 1:58 pm (UTC -7)
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Recent local news articles on Estate Planning and Death Taxes | says:
December 8, 2011 at 10:29 am (UTC -7)
[...] to estate planning and death taxes. I have talked about the current estate tax system for both Washington State Estate Taxes as well as the IRS imposed federal Estate Taxes in previous posts, but in summary, the current [...]