​​​NOTE: This Article Replaces the Article Dated January 3, 2013. See the prior article...

For deaths occurring after December 31, 2012, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 made permanent changes to the federal estate tax that result in the elimination of the Wisconsin estate tax. The federal estate tax credit for state death taxes, which would have been the basis for Wisconsin's estate tax, was repealed. A federal estate tax is imposed on estates of $5,000,000 or more (adjusted annually for inflation).

2013 Wisconsin Act 20 further clarifies that, unless federal estate tax law is modified to provide a federal estate tax credit for state death taxes, Wisconsin does not have an estate tax for deaths occurring after December 31, 2012.

Under prior federal and Wisconsin law, there is no Wisconsin estate tax for deaths occurring between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2012. The federal estate tax did not have a credit for state death taxes upon which Wisconsin could impose an estate tax.

August 19, 2013