STATE HOUSE, Providence, RI –The Senate Committee on Finance meets at the rise of the Senate today to hear a multitude of bills including legislation introduced by Senator Thomas J. Paolino relating to estate and transfer taxes.  Bill S-0259 would increase the net taxable estate exemption to three million six hundred thousand dollars ($3,600,000) on January 1, 2024. It would also increase the exemption by one million dollars ($1,000,000) on January 1 per year thereafter. The legislation has garnered bipartisan support.

Currently, Rhode Island’s exemption is set at $1,733,264 for 2023.  Estates valued over that amount are taxed at rates ranging from 0.8% to 16%.  Rhode Island is one of twelve states and the District of Columbia that tax your estate.  Although Rhode Island adjusts its estate tax exemption annually for inflation, it still has a considerably low threshold, being one of only three in the nation that is less than two million dollars.

“We want Rhode Islanders to succeed financially and remain in our state, contributing to our economy, for the remainder of their lives. Like other selective taxes, the estate tax, or death tax, adds a substantial burden to Rhode Islander taxpayers and hinders economic development,” declared Senator Thomas J. Paolino. “Grieving families should not have to consider selling off assets – which have been taxed throughout the deceased’s lifetime – to pay a tax bill.”

“Increasing the threshold for taxable estates would help families to keep assets intact and viable for future generations,” continued Senator Paolino.  “We should encourage investment and entrepreneurship for a stable economic future and circumvent affluent Rhode Islanders from considering a move to one of the thirty-eight states that do not tax their hard-earned legacies.”