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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3775 FILED ON: 1/20/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2720
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Nicholas A. Boldyga
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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act relative to the Massachusetts estate tax code.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Nicholas A. Boldyga3rd Hampden1/19/2023 1 of 7
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3775 FILED ON: 1/20/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2720
By Representative Boldyga of Southwick, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2720) of
Nicholas A. Boldyga relative to the estate tax code of the Commonwealth. Revenue.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 2881 OF 2021-2022.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
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An Act relative to the Massachusetts estate tax code.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Chapter 65C of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out
2Section 1(a), as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the
3following section:-
4 (a) “Code”, the Internal Revenue Code of the United States, in effect for the taxable year
5 SECTION 2. Chapter 65C of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out
6Section 1(d), as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the
7following section:-
8 (d) "Federal Gross Estate", the gross estate as defined under the code. 2 of 7
9 SECTION 3. Chapter 65C of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out
10Section 1(f), as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the
11following section:-
12 (f) “Massachusetts gross estate”, the federal gross estate, whether or not a federal estate
13tax return is required to be filed, plus the value of any property: (i) in which the decedent had at
14death a qualifying income interest for life described in subsection (c) of section 3A, or to the
15extent of any such interest therein of which the decedent has at any time made a transfer, by trust
16or otherwise, under any circumstances which would require the property to be included in the
17gross estate under the provisions of this chapter; and (ii) for which a deduction was allowed for
18Massachusetts estate tax purposes with respect to the transfer of such property to the decedent;
19and less the value of real and tangible personal property having an actual situs outside the
20commonwealth, but not the value of the principal residence of the decedent unless elected
21pursuant to the provisions of subsection (f) of section 2. The Massachusetts gross estate shall not
22include the value of any property in which the decedent had a qualifying income interest for life
23which is not otherwise includible in the Massachusetts gross estate under the first sentence of
24this subsection, notwithstanding the right of the executor of the decedent's estate to recover
25federal or Massachusetts estate taxes from such property.
26 SECTION 4. Chapter 65C of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out
27Section 1(h), as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the
28following section:-
29 (h) “Massachusetts taxable estate”, the Massachusetts gross estate less the exemption or
30the exclusions provided for within this section and deductions allowable under chapter 65C. 3 of 7
31 SECTION 5. Chapter 65C of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out
32Section 1(j), as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the
33following section:-
34 (j) “Applicable exclusion amount”, the sum of (i) the basic exclusion amount, and (ii) in
35the case of a surviving spouse, the deceased spousal unused exclusion amount.
36 SECTION 6. Chapter 65C of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out
37Section 1(k), as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the
38following section:-
39 (k) “Basic exclusion amount”, $2,750,000 which shall be annually adjusted for inflation
40based on the US Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) for All Urban Consumers.
41If the amount as adjusted under the preceding sentence is not a multiple of $10,000, such amount
42shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of $10,000.
43 SECTION 7. Chapter 65C of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out
44Section 2 and Section 2A in their entirety, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, and
45inserting in place thereof the following section:-
46 Section 2. (a) A tax is hereby imposed upon the transfer of the estate of each person
47dying on or after January 1, 2022 who, at the time of death, was a resident of the commonwealth.
48This subsection shall only apply to each person dying on or after January 1, 2022. For the estate
49of decedents dying prior to January 1, 2022, they shall be subject to the provisions of chapter
5065C of the general laws in effect upon the date of death of such decedent. 4 of 7
51 (b) A tax is hereby imposed upon the transfer of real property situated in this
52commonwealth and upon tangible personal property having an actual situs in this commonwealth
53of every person who at the time of his or her death was not a resident of this commonwealth.
54 (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the tax imposed by subsections (a) and
55(b) shall be computed upon the value of any property subject to a power of appointment which is
56includible in the federal gross estate, notwithstanding that a tax has been paid thereon pursuant to
57section 14 of chapter 65.
58 (d) For the purposes of computing the tax imposed by subsections (a) and (b) of this
59section the amount of the tax shall be computed with respect to the Massachusetts taxable estate
60in accordance with the following table:-
61 [TABLE 1]
62 (e) A tax is hereby imposed upon the transfer of real property situated in this
63commonwealth and upon tangible personal property having an actual situs in this commonwealth
64of every person who at the time of his death was not a resident of this commonwealth. The
65amount of this tax shall be computed with respect to the value of Massachusetts real and tangible
66personal property in accordance with the following table:-
67 [TABLE 2]
68 (f) The principal residence of a deceased person who, at the time of their death, was a
69resident of the commonwealth shall be excluded in such person’s Massachusetts gross estate
70subject to the exclusion requirements of section 121 of the Code, provided that such residence
71has been owned and used by such person as his or her principal residence for periods aggregating 5 of 7
72two years or more during the five-year period ending on the date of such person’s death.
73Ownership shall include, but not be limited to, sole ownership, joint ownership, ownership via a
74funded revocable trust or nominee trust, or other such vehicles as determined by the Department
75of Revenue. The executor may elect to include the value of such deceased person’s residence in
76such person’s Massachusetts gross estate. This election shall be made by the executor on the
77Massachusetts estate tax return filed within the time prescribed for filing such return, or any
78extension of such time granted by the commissioner. Such election, once made, shall be
79irrevocable.
80 (g) The maximum exclusion value of a person's principal residence allowed to be
81deducted from their Massachusetts net estate may not exceed the amount of the basic exclusion
82amount as defined in section 1. This deduction is separate and distinct from the basic exclusion
83amount and both may be deducted from the net estate to determine the taxable estate.
84 (h) The basis of property, for Massachusetts estate tax purposes, acquired from the
85decedent shall be the basis computed pursuant to section 1014 of the Code.
86 (i) A person who, at the time of death, was a resident of the commonwealth and whose
87deceased spouse was a resident of the commonwealth may elect to apply the deceased spousal
88unused exclusion amount to the Massachusetts gross estate. This exclusion shall be made by the
89executor on the Massachusetts estate tax return filed within the time prescribed for filing such
90return, or any extension of such time granted by the commissioner. Such election, once made,
91shall be irrevocable.
92 (j) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the tax imposed by subsections (b) and
93(c) shall be computed upon the value of any property subject to a power of appointment which is 6 of 7
94includible in the federal gross estate, notwithstanding that a tax has been paid thereon pursuant to
95section 14 of chapter 65.
96 (k) For the purposes of computing the tax imposed by subsections (b) and (c) of this
97section, the provisions of section 3 shall not apply.
98 (l) The commissioner of revenue may make determinations and shall prescribe such
99regulations as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out this subsection.
100 (m) For the estate of decedents dying on or after January 1, 2022 all references and
101provisions in subsection (b) to the Internal Revenue Code or Code, unless the context clearly
102indicates otherwise, shall be to the Code as in effect for the taxable year.
103 SECTION 8. Chapter 65C of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the
104following section after Section 3(d), as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition:- (e) “Deceased
105spousal unused exclusion amount”, with respect to a surviving spouse of a deceased spouse
106dying on or after January 1, 2022 and subject to paragraph 5 of section 2010 of the Code, the
107lesser of (i) the basic exclusion amount or (ii) the excess of the applicable exclusion amount of
108the last such deceased spouse of such surviving spouse, over the amount with respect to which
109the Massachusetts estate tax is determined under subsection (b) of the estate of such deceased
110spouse.
111 SECTION 9. Chapter 65C of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out in
112Section 3A(f), as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, the line “Such election, once made,
113shall be irrevocable and shall be separate from and independent of any election made by the
114executor for federal estate tax purposes” and inserting in place thereof the following:- “If no
115Massachusetts estate tax return is timely filed, such election may be made on the first return filed 7 of 7
116by the executor after the due date. Such election, once made, shall be irrevocable. The executor
117is not required to have made the same qualified terminable interest property election for federal
118estate tax purposes in order to make the election for Massachusetts purposes.”
119 SECTION 10. Chapter 65C of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out in
120Section 4(b), as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, in its entirety.
121 SECTION 11. Chapter 65C of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out in
122Section 4A, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, in its entirety.