During the 2003 legislative session, the Oregon Legislature enacted a number of tax law changes. You are probably aware of the income tax increase. However, it is unlikely that you know about the Oregon Inheritance Tax changes.

As part of the budget balance process, the Oregon Legislature moved to “disconnect” from the current Federal Estate tax exemptions and instead adopted lower exemption levels. For example, if a person dies during calendar year 2011 with a taxable estate valued at $2 million, no Federal Estate tax would be due, because the current Federal Exemption is $5 million. However, the Oregon exemption amount is set at $1 million. Therefore, even though a $2 million estate would owe no federal tax, the Oregon Inheritance Tax could exceed $65,000.00.

Approximate Oregon inheritance tax rates:

	Estate Value	Tax Rate (Cost)
➣	Over $1 million	6.4%
➣	$1.2 million	37.7% ($45,200)
➣	1.5m	42.9% ($64,400)
➣	1.8m	47.3% ($85,200)