What is the collection tax?
The collection tax was a inheritance tax levied by individual states, allowing them to share in the proceeds and revenues of federal estate taxes. Although states may have claimed a portion of federal tax on an individual’s estate transfers, the pickup tax did not increase the value of the estate. tax liability.
The collection tax was phased out with the adoption of the Economic Growth Tax Relief Alignment Act (EGTRRA) from 2001 and ended completely in 2005.Some states have replaced the pickup tax with their own new property taxes.
Key points to remember
- A collector tax was a property tax levied by individual states, allowing them to share in federal estate tax revenues.
- The pickup tax was abolished in 2001 and abolished in 2005.
- This tax did not increase an estate’s tax liability, but gave the states a portion of the federal government’s estate tax.
- After the repeal of the pickup tax, a number of states passed their own estate tax laws — 12 states and DC collect these taxes as of 2021.
Understanding Pickup Tax
Individuals have the right to transfer their personal property to their heirs after their death. These can be cash, real estate, trusts, business assets, securities and other investments. But there is a price that a person’s heirs must pay. The federal government levies a tax on these assets after determining the assets fair market value (FMV). The taxable amount is calculated after taking into account certain deductions and allowances.
The pickup tax was also known as the sponge tax. This is because he was seen as a sponge on taxes collected by the federal government. He did not rate responsibility for an estate to be paid. Instead, it was a sharing agreement between the states and the federal government for estate taxes collected at the federal level by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). It was a convenient way for states to share federal estate taxes without having to create their own guidelines and go through legislative steps.
The costs of collecting inheritance taxes are disproportionately high given that there are not many people with areas meeting the minimum threshold. There is a lot of audit and the paperwork involved in settling estates, and the pickup tax left that burden on the federal government while allowing the states to share the proceeds.
When the scavenger or sponge tax was removed in 2001, a number of different states enacted new laws allowing them to continue collecting estate taxes. As of 2021, 12 states and the District of Columbia collect estate taxes, with exclusion amounts ranging from $1 million to $5.93 million. Some states collect inheritance taxwhich differ from estate taxes in that the persons who receive the proceeds of an estate, not the estate itself, are responsible for paying state taxes when filed.
Property taxes provide less than 1% of all state revenue.
Special Considerations
Federal property taxes have been around since 1916 and have seen many changes over the years, including when the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 was adopted. Initially, the inheritance tax threshold was doubled. For 2021, the threshold was $11.7 million for an individual filer, meaning an estate worth less than that amount is not required to pay estate tax, at least at federal level.The new higher thresholds mean there will be less inheritance tax collected and fewer people needing to file a return.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act 2017 increased the threshold, meaning fewer people were liable to pay inheritance tax.
If no action is taken by President Biden and the Democratic-controlled Congress, today’s high exemption amounts will revert to $5 million per person, adjusted for inflationearly 2026.Some commentators think it’s likely that President Biden, who has campaigned heavily to reform the current tax system, will seek to push through those changes sooner.
This is good news for states that still collect the tax. Had the federal government finally eliminated the federal estate tax altogether, many states might have considered eliminating it as well, realizing that the administrative costs of auditing and collecting estate taxes in state level to a relatively small number of people might not be worth the potential. income.
