Washington Inheritance Tax

Washington inheritance tax is no longer functional as it is not collected in the state of Washington. Washington collects estate tax instead.

Estate tax in Washington has been dissociated from the rules and regulations of the federal estate tax. Hence, Washington levies only the state estate tax.

The Washington inheritance tax replaced the estate tax in 1982. Effective since May 17, 2005, another new form of estate tax was introduced. The estate tax in Washington is imposed on estates of deceased persons whose dates of death fall on or after 17th of May 2005. This is an independent tax, which comprises a number of conditions of the Internal Revenue Code or IRC as of 1st January 2005. regardless of similarity, the estate tax of Washington is not influenced by the expiry of the federal estate tax, which is scheduled to take effect in 2010. The amount of exemption permitted by the new legislation is $1.5 million for deceased persons whose dates of death are falling in the year 2005 and $2 million for deceased persons whose dates of death fall on or after the 1st of January, 2006. All of these exemptions mirror the exemptions of estate tax according to the rules and regulations of federal estate tax for the years; 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. The exemption has been increased to $3.5 million for the year 2009.

In Washington, the rates of estate tax commence at 10% on estate values of more than $1.5 million and goes up step by step to 19% on estate values more than $9 million.

To receive the forms for filing estate tax returns or further information contact the Internal Revenue Service.

Contact Details:

Washington Department of Revenue
Seattle, Washington
Tel: 1-800-647-7706