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H 7312Taxes: Other

Taxation - Estate and Transfer Taxes - Liability and Computation

This bill raises the Rhode Island estate tax exemption threshold to $15 million for deaths occurring on or after January 1, 2027.

Held for study
Population
Affected
8
Introduced Jan 23, 2026Committee House Finance

Plain-English Summary

This legislation significantly increases the exemption threshold for the Rhode Island estate tax. Currently, the state imposes a tax on the transfer of estates that exceed a certain value (historically adjusted for inflation, currently around $1.7 million). This bill amends the law so that, for deaths occurring on or after January 1, 2027, the estate tax will only apply if the net taxable estate exceeds $15 million. The bill also includes provisions to adjust the tax credit for inflation annually starting in 2028.

For younger readers

When a person passes away and leaves behind money and property (called an estate), the government sometimes collects a tax on that value. Right now, Rhode Island taxes estates that are worth more than about $1.7 million. This new law changes the rules starting in the year 2027. Under the new rule, the government will only collect this tax if the estate is worth more than $15 million. This means that fewer families will have to pay this tax when a relative dies, unless the person was very wealthy.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
High-net-worth individualsHeirs and beneficiariesEstate planning attorneysFamily business ownersAccountants and Tax Preparers
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • May help retain wealthy residents within the state, preventing capital flight and ensuring their income taxes and philanthropic contributions remain in Rhode Island.
  • Protects family-owned farms and small businesses that may be "asset rich but cash poor" from being sold off or liquidated solely to pay estate tax liabilities.
  • Adjusts the tax threshold to account for inflation, ensuring that upper-middle-class families are not inadvertently captured by a tax originally intended for the ultra-wealthy.
  • Significantly reduces state revenue available for funding critical public services, education, and social safety nets by cutting taxes for the wealthiest estates.
  • Exacerbates wealth inequality by allowing the accumulation and transfer of multi-generational dynastic wealth without the redistributive mechanism of a robust estate tax.
  • Shifts the fiscal burden of maintaining state infrastructure and services onto working-class and middle-class taxpayers to compensate for the lost revenue from high-net-worth estates.
For Conservatives
  • Drastically reduces the tax burden on successful individuals and families, allowing them to pass on the vast majority of their assets to heirs without state confiscation.
  • Increases Rhode Island's economic competitiveness relative to states with no estate tax (like Florida), discouraging high-net-worth individuals from moving away.
  • Promotes capital accumulation and investment within the state by removing a financial penalty on intergenerational wealth transfer.
  • Delays the implementation of the tax relief until 2027, forcing estates settled in the interim to pay the current, lower-threshold tax rates.
  • Fails to completely repeal the estate tax, leaving the statutory framework in place which could be lowered again by future legislatures.
  • Retains a complex calculation method based on federal credits rather than simplifying the tax code through a straightforward repeal or flat exemption mechanism.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 14 additions

SECTION 1. Section 44-22-1.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 44-22 entitled "Estate and Transfer Taxes — Liability and Computation" is hereby amended to read as follows: 44-22-1.1. Tax on net estate of decedent. (a)(1) For decedents whose death occurs on or after January 1, 1992, but prior to January 1, 2002, a tax is imposed upon the transfer of the net estate of every resident or nonresident decedent as a tax upon the right to transfer. The tax is a sum equal to the maximum credit for state death taxes allowed by 26 U.S.C. § 2011.

(2) For decedents whose death occurs on or after January 1, 2002, but prior to January 1, 2010, a tax is imposed upon the transfer of the net estate of every resident or nonresident decedent as a tax upon the right to transfer. The tax is a sum equal to the maximum credit for state death taxes allowed by 26 U.S.C. § 2011 as it was in effect as of January 1, 2001; provided, however, that the tax shall be imposed only if the net taxable estate shall exceed six hundred seventy-five thousand dollars ($675,000). Any scheduled increase in the unified credit provided in 26 U.S.C. § 2010 in effect on January 1, 2001, or thereafter, shall not apply.

(3) For decedents whose death occurs on or after January 1, 2010, and prior to January 1, 2015, a tax is imposed upon the transfer of the net estate of every resident or nonresident decedent as a tax upon the right to transfer. The tax is a sum equal to the maximum credit for state death taxes allowed by 26 U.S.C. § 2011 as it was in effect as of January 1, 2001; provided, however, that the tax shall be imposed only if the net taxable estate shall exceed eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($850,000); provided, further, beginning on January 1, 2011, and each January 1 thereafter until January 1, 2015, said amount shall be adjusted by the percentage of increase in the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) as published by the United States Department of Labor Statistics determined as of September 30 of the prior calendar year; said adjustment shall be compounded annually and shall be rounded up to the nearest five dollar ($5.00) increment. Any scheduled increase in the unified credit provided in 26 U.S.C. § 2010 in effect on January 1, 2003, or thereafter, shall not apply.

(4) For decedents whose death occurs on or after January 1, 2015, a tax is imposed upon the transfer of the net estate of every resident or nonresident decedent as a tax upon the right to transfer. The tax is a sum equal to the maximum credit for state death taxes allowed by 26 U.S.C. § 2011, as it was in effect as of January 1, 2001; provided, however, that a Rhode Island credit shall be allowed against any tax so determined in the amount of sixty-four thousand four hundred ($64,400). Any scheduled increase in the unified credit provided in 26 U.S.C. § 2010 in effect on January 1, 2003, or thereafter, shall not apply; provided, further, beginning on January 1, 2016, and each January 1 thereafter, said Rhode Island credit amount under this section shall be adjusted by the percentage of increase in the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) as published by the United States Department of Labor Statistics determined as of September 30 of the prior calendar year; said adjustment shall be compounded annually and shall be rounded up to the nearest five dollar ($5.00) increment.

(5) For decedents whose death occurs on or after January 1, 2027, a tax is imposed upon the transfer of the net estate of every resident or nonresident decedent as a tax upon the right to transfer. The tax shall be imposed only if the net taxable estate shall exceed fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000). The tax is a sum equal to the maximum credit for state death taxes allowed by 26 U.S.C. § 2011, as it was in effect as of January 1, 2001; provided, however, that a Rhode Island credit shall be allowed against any tax so determined. Any scheduled increase in the unified credit provided in 26 U.S.C. § 2010 in effect on January 1, 2003, or thereafter, shall not apply; provided, further, beginning on January 1, 2028, and each January 1 thereafter, said Rhode Island credit amount under this section shall be adjusted by the percentage of increase in the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) as published by the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics determined as of September 30 of the prior calendar year; said adjustment shall be compounded annually and shall be rounded up to the nearest five dollar ($5.00) increment.

(b) If the decedent’s estate contains property having a tax situs not within the state, then the tax determined by this section is reduced to an amount determined by multiplying the tax by a fraction whose numerator is the gross estate excluding all property having a tax situs not within the state at the decedent’s death and whose denominator is the gross estate. In determining the fraction, no deductions are considered and the gross estate is not reduced by a mortgage or other indebtedness for which the decedent’s estate is not liable. (c)(1) The terms “gross taxable estate,” “federal gross estate” or “net taxable estate” used in this chapter or chapter 23 of this title has the same meaning as when used in a comparable context in the laws of the United States, unless a different meaning is clearly required by the provisions of this chapter or chapter 23 of this title. Any reference in this chapter or chapter 23 of this title to the Internal Revenue Code or other laws of the United States means the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, 26 U.S.C. § 1 et seq.

(2) For decedents whose death occurs on or after January 1, 2002, the terms “gross taxable estate” “federal gross estate” or “net taxable estate” used in this chapter or chapter 23 of this title has the same meaning as when used in a comparable context in the laws of the United States, unless a different meaning is clearly required by the provisions of this chapter or chapter 23 of this title. Any reference in this chapter or chapter 23 of this title to the Internal Revenue Code or other laws of the United States means the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, 26 U.S.C. § 1 et seq., as they were in effect as of January 1, 2001, unless otherwise provided.

(d) All values are as finally determined for federal estate tax purposes.

(e) Property has a tax situs within the state of Rhode Island:

(1) If it is real estate or tangible personal property and has actual situs within the state of Rhode Island; or

(2) If it is intangible personal property and the decedent was a resident.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.