States seek more estate taxes (WSJ)

"States move to beef up estate taxes; efforts by legislatures counter federal attempt to kill levy." The Wall Street Journal of July 13, 2005, D1, reports that even as Congress considers cutting or eliminating the federal estate tax, "revenue-hungry" states are shoring up their estate-tax systems. The 2001 federal tax amendment which repeals the federal estate tax in 2010 also included phasing out a federal estate-tax credit for state death taxes. The credit disappeared this year, and states that had tied their taxes to this credit faced losing billions of dollars. About one-third of the states have taken steps to strengthen their estate-tax systems, even separating from the federal estate-tax system. Connecticut and Washington recently enacted new estate taxes, and more states may follow, depending on what Congress does with the federal law. (WSJ is available in the Library)