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An Act To Amend the Maine Exclusion Amount in the Estate Tax
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §4102, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2017, c. 474, Pt. G, §1, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:
 
5.  Maine exclusion amount.     "Maine exclusion amount" means:
 
A.  For estates of decedents dying on or after January 1, 2013 but before January 1, 2016, $2,000,000;
 
B.  For estates of decedents dying on or after January 1, 2016 but before January 1, 2018, the basic exclusion amount determined for the calendar year in accordance with the Code, Section 2010(c)(3);
 
C.  For estates of decedents dying on or after January 1, 2018 but before January 1, 2020, $5,600,000; and
 
D.  For estates of decedents dying on or after January 1, 2020, $2,000,000.
Sec. 2. 36 MRSA §4119, as enacted by PL 2017, c. 474, Pt. G, §2, is amended to read:
§ 4119.Annual adjustments for inflation in 2018 and 2019
Beginning inIn 2018 and each year thereafter2019, on or about September 15th, for the estates of decedents who die during the succeeding calendar year, the assessor shall multiply the cost-of-living adjustment by the dollar amount contained in section 4102, subsection 5 applicable to estates of decedents dying on or after January 1, 2018 but before January 1, 2020. For the purposes of this section, the "cost-of-living adjustment" is the Chained Consumer Price Index for the 12-month period ending June 30th of the preceding calendar year divided by the Chained Consumer Price Index for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2017.
 
SUMMARY
This bill returns the exclusion amount, below which the Maine estate tax does not apply, to $2,000,000 from $5,600,000 for estates of decedents dying on or after January 1, 2020 and removes the annual adjustment for inflation of that exclusion amount.