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An Act To Exempt the Value of Family Farms from the Estate Tax
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  36 MRSA §4080  is enacted to read:
§ 4080. Exemptions
 
1.  Definitions.     As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, "eligible farmland" means a tract of land located in the State, including woodland and wasteland, that was classified as farmland under the farm and open space tax law, chapter 105, subchapter 10, for 5 years preceding the death of the owner. The farming or agricultural activity and the income derived from that activity may be earned by either the owner or lessee of the farmland.
 
2.  Exemption.     The tax otherwise imposed by this chapter is reduced by the amount of the tax attributable to eligible farmland included in the taxable estate, including eligible farmland held by an entity to the extent that the value of the entity is included in the taxable estate. If the value of a decedent's estate minus the value of eligible farmland is below the amount that would incur federal estate tax, no tax is owed under this chapter.
 
3.  Application.     This section applies to an estate of a decedent who dies on or after January 1, 2011.
 
SUMMARY
This bill removes the value of eligible farmland from the calculation of the Maine estate tax.