Federal-State Death Tax Implications for Private Nonindustrial Forest Landowners in the Northeast

Abstract

Tax planning is an important component of forest management. Management planning generally focuses on income and property taxes. Potential death taxes, however, are often overlooked, which can cause serious problems with the orderly transfer of forested property at death. This article examines key provisions of the federal death tax law, together with the death tax statutes of 13 northeastern states. A modal depicts the combined death tax levy—federal plus state—in these states for a specific planning strategy at the first spouse's death. A second model examines the total tax levy for three different strategies through the second spouse's death based on the property distribution at the first death. North. J. Appl. For. 5:135-141, June 1988.