House Committee on Revenue hears estate tax overview, public testimony on bill to raise exemption to $7 million

The House Committee on Revenue met Feb. 6 in Salem for an informational briefing and public hearing on Oregon's estate tax and on House Bill 2,301, which would raise the estate tax exemption to $7,000,000 and set a 7% flat rate. John Hart of the Legislative Revenue Office opened with an LRO overview of the current statute and recent receipts, and lawmakers heard more than two hours of public testimony both for and against the bill.

The overview and why it matters

John Hart, Legislative Revenue Office, told the committee that Oregon's estate tax returns are concentrated and volatile: "for our most recent tax year where we have somewhat complete data... we had 3,106 tax returns and you'll see that 888 of those were in the 0% bracket," and that the program currently embeds a $1,000,000 exemption. He summarized the tax's legislative history, noting the federal changes in 2001 (the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act) and Oregon's 2011 statutory rewrite, and explained how the state calculates taxable estate and apportions…