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Alabama inheritance tax returns are no longer required for those estates whose owners died after 31st December 2004. The Alabama state department of revenue assesses and handles the entire inheritance tax issues in Alabama.
The inheritance tax or estate tax in the United States is a tax imposed on the property at the time of the transfer of the property to heir following the death of the owner. The inheritance tax is the part of the Unified Gift and Estate Tax system in the USA and the Alabama inheritance tax system also follows the same rule. The inheritance or estate tax in the USA is imposed by the federal government while some state also imposes an inheritance tax of their own on the property.
According to the federal legislation passed in 2001, the federal inheritance tax and gift taxes are to be eliminated by 2009 in Alabama.
The current federal law also states the reinstatement of the federal inheritance and gift tax in 2011 in Alabama. Under the federal estate tax law, the filing procedures of the federal inheritance tax in Alabama are based. Due to the changes carried out on the federal tax laws enacted in 2001, the federal estate tax credit of Alabama has been reduced considerably over the four-year period. The final phase-out of the credit has been effective since 1st January 2005 in Alabama. Hence, it may be concluded that those estates whose owners died after 31st December 2004 or before 1st January 2011 are not required to file inheritance tax in Alabama.
The Alabama Department of Revenue located at Montgomery has issued report on the current changes in the federal inheritance tax law in Alabama. It says clearly that the Alabama tax payers need not to file for the Alabama estate tax returns, Alabama estate tax waivers and Alabama affidavits of estate tax for the properties whose owners have died after 31st January 2004.