Cleveland
Plain Dealer...
Communities waiting
to see if Ohio ‘death tax’ gets buried
Thursday, June 02, 2011, 8:46 AM
By Cody Peck
Earlier this year, a Republican-fueled bill to eliminate Ohio’s estate
tax was introduced into the state’s House of Representatives.
Coined the “death tax” by Gov. John Kasich, the estate tax was
established in 1968 to replace a state inheritance tax. Its purpose is
to generate revenue by imposing a tax on the transfer of assets of an
estate.
Estates worth more than $338,333 are taxed by up to 6 percent and
estates worth more than $500,000 by up to 7 percent. The state keeps 20
percent of the tax’s revenue and the other 80 percent is distributed to
Ohio’s local governments.
In fiscal year 2009, for example, the tax generated $333.8 million. The
state kept $64.4 million and the remainder of the money was distributed
to local governments.
The city of Lakewood receives an average of $900,000 each year.
Estate tax advocates say it keeps money from staying in the hands of
the wealthy. Opponents argue it drives successful people — such as
entrepreneurs and other job creators — out of the state, stunting the
growth of the local economy.
Read it at the Cleveland Plain Dealer
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