Ferguson signs law to undo WA estate tax increase enacted last year
Washington will soon end its reign as the state with the nation’s highest estate tax.
Gov. Bob Ferguson signed legislation Tuesday to erase an increase in estate tax rates that he and Democratic lawmakers pushed through last year to help overcome a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall. The tax is paid when people die, and their property is transferred to their heirs.
Senate Bill 6347 “ensures that Washington is not a significant outlier for our state tax rates,” the first-term Democratic governor said upon signing the bill Tuesday.
With the stroke of his pen, he brought a quiet end to a noisy discussion on potential political and economic fallout from last year’s decision to lift the top tax rate from 20% to 35% for estate values of $9 million and above after accounting for a $3 million exclusion.
https://washingtonstatestandard.com/briefs/ferguson-signs-law-to-undo-wa-estate-tax-increase-enacted-last-year/