BREAKING NEWS OUT OF OLYMPIA: Last night, the Washington House of Representatives passed SB 5813, with two amendments. Here is what has been agreed upon between the House and the Senate.

BREAKING NEWS OUT OF OLYMPIA: Last night, the Washington House of Representatives passed SB 5813, with two amendments. Gov. Ferguson has NOT YET signed it...but here is what has been agreed upon between the House and the Senate:

(1) The Estate Tax Exemption will be adjusted to $3 million per person, to be adjusted annually with the CPI report that includes the City of Seattle, hopefully forever preventing a future "stall" in adjustments when the CPI report changes its name.

(2) The tax brackets remain the same.

(3) The tax rates for the respective brackets will change, with the top effective tax rate being 35%, here is the table:

Washington Taxable Estate, the Current Rate, and the New Rate

$0 to $1,000,000, old rate 10%, new rate 10%

$1,000,001 to $2,000,000, old rate 14%, new rate 15%

$2,000,001 to $3,000,000, old rate 15%, new rate 17%

$3,000,001 to $4,000,000, old rate 16%, new rate 19%

$4,000,001 to $6,000,000, old rate 18%, new rate 23%

$6,000,001 to $7,000,000, old rate19%, new rate 26%

$7,000,001 to $9,000,000, old rate 19.5%, new rate 30%

$9,000,001 and up, old rate 20%, new rate 35%

What is NOT yet agreed to: (a) When this will take effect. The Senate version has it retroactive to January 1, 2025 (good news for those over $2.193 million and below $3 million, bad news for those in the top two tax brackets). The House version has this taking effect on July 1, 2025. (b) The House version includes the qualified non-familial heir. It is very likely that both of these House amendments will pass the Senate version.

Please note that Gov. Ferguson has not weighed in on this specific topic (at least not publicly), but experts believe that this will be signed into law.