PLEASE NOTE: Legislative Information cannot perform research, provide legal advice, or interpret Maine law. For legal assistance, please contact a qualified attorney.
An Act To Conform Maine's Estate Tax to the Federal Estate Tax
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §4062, sub-§1-A, ¶A, as amended by PL 2009, c. 213, Pt. E, §1 and affected by §6, is further amended to read:
 
A. For the estates of decedents dying after December 31, 2002, "federal credit" means the maximum credit against the tax on the federal taxable estate for state death taxes determined under the Code, Section 2011 as of December 31, 2002 exclusive of the reduction of the maximum credit contained in the Code, Section 2011(b)(2); the period of limitations under the Code, Section 2011(c); and the termination provision contained in the Code, Section 2011(f). The state death tax deduction contained in the Code, Section 2058 must be disregarded. The unified credit must be determined under the Code, Section 2010 as of December 31, 2000. The termination provision contained in the Code, Section 2210 must be disregarded. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Title to the contrary, the tax determined by this chapter for estates of decedents dying after December 31, 2009 must be determined in accordance with the law applicable to decedents dying during calendar year 2009 and as if the unified credit determined under the Code, Section 2010 is calculated upon an applicable exclusion amount equal to the applicable exclusion amount under the Code, Section 2010(c) at the time of death; and
Sec. 2. Application. This Act applies to estates of decedents dying on or after January 1, 2012.
 
SUMMARY
This bill raises the Maine estate tax exclusion amount from $1,000,000 to $5,000,000 beginning with estates of decedents dying on or after January 1, 2012 and conforms to the federal exclusion level thereafter.