New IRS statistics show that, while the nationwide number of estates liable for federal estate tax fell by almost 68% between 2000 and 2009, the number of Connecticut estates liable for the tax dropped by nearly 75%, from 1,063 to 270. According to calculations by the Citizens for Tax Justice, 3.6% of Connecticut estates owed federal estate tax in 2000 versus 0.9% in 2009. The IRS attributes the drop primarily to a 2001 law that gradually increased the federal threshold for a taxable estate from $675,000 in 2000 to $3.5 million in 2009.
On the other hand, between 2005, when it was enacted, and 2009, the number of estates subject to the Connecticut estate tax increased by 91%, from 165 to 315, according to the Department of Revenue Services. The state tax threshold was $2 million over those years. Connecticut increased its taxable estate threshold to $3.5 million starting with deaths in 2010.
Among the other IRS estate tax data highlights:
• Nearly 58% of 2009 federal estate taxpayers were male.
• 87% were married or widowed and 13% were divorced, single, or separated.
• 30% of aggregate gross estate assets consisted of stocks; 22% real estate; 13% bonds; 11% cash; and 7% pensions and 401(k) accounts, with other assets making up 17%.
