[WSBARP] Estate Tax Update - BREAKING NEWS

[Brent Williams-Ruth]

Greetings List Members -

Last night the Washington House of Representatives passed SB 5813, with two
amendments.  It is NOT YET signed by the Governor....but here is what has
been agreed to between the House and the Senate:

1) The Estate Tax Exemption Level will be adjusted to $3,000,000, to be
adjusted annually with the CPI report that includes the City of
Seattle....hopefully forever preventing a future "stall" in
adjustments when the CPI report changes its name.

2) The Tax Brackets remain the same.

3) The Tax Rates for the respective brackets will change, with the top
effective tax rate being 35%, here is the table:
Washington Taxable Estate, the Current Rate, and the New Rate

$0 to $1,000,000, old rate 10%, new rate 10%
$1,000,000 to $2,000,000, old rate 14%, new rate 15%
$2,000,000 to $3,000,000, old rate 15%, new rate 17%
$3,000,000 to $4,000,000, old rate 16%, new rate 19%
$4,000,000 to $6,000,000, old rate 18%, new rate 23%
$6,000,000 to $7,000,000, old rate19%, new rate 26%
$7,000,000 to $9,000,000, old rate 19.5%, new rate 30%
 $9,000,000 and up, old 20%, new rate 35%

What is NOT yet agreed to.....
When this will take effect. Senate version has it go back to January 1,
2025 (good for those over 2.193, and below $3,000,000......bad for those in
the top two tack brackets).   The House version has this taking effect on
July 1, 2025.

Also, the house version included the qualified non-familial heir.

It is my personal belief that both of these house amendments will pass the
Senate version....

Please note that the Governor has not weighed in on this specific topic
(publically)....but I believe that this will be signed into law.

To everyone who helped us lobby in our PERSONAL capacities as
practitioners and citizens. Thank you. When we went to Olympia in support
of the first bill that simply sought to fix the inflation indexing, the
comments and support of the over 200 signatories to our letter made an
impact.

Should I be re-elected to the RPPT Executive Committee again, I will
propose a prospective plan where those who wish to follow legislation can
"opt-in" and be kept appraised.  The bill that passed both the House and
Senate was made public last week (during Spring Break and Easter Holiday)
and the Senate hearing was given less than 24 hours notice.

For future bills and laws, we will want to put into place a rapid response
plan.

Thank you and stay tuned for the final update after the Governor takes
action!

Brent


*Brent Williams-Ruth* (pronouns: he/him)
*Attorney-At-Law*

*Law Offices of Brent Williams-Ruth, **a division of BWR Consulting, PLLC*

*Physical Address: 500 S 336th Street, Suite 214; Federal Way, WA 98003*

*Mailing Address: **PO BOX 3319; Federal Way, WA 98063 *

Office/Scheduling Phone: (253) 285-7751

For All Meetings & Scheduling: info at williams-ruthlaw.com

e-mail <Brent at Williams-RuthLaw.com> / website
<http://www.williams-ruthlaw.com/> / facebook
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