Louisiana Inheritance Tax Law
Louisiana imposes an inheritance tax on individuals who inherit money or property from Louisiana residents who die before June 30, 2004. The Louisiana state inheritance tax does not apply to deaths that occurred after that date. For example, if a Louisiana resident inherited property from a relative who died in May 2004, that person would have to pay tax on the property they received.
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Eligibility
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All Louisiana residents who receive property from person who died before June 30, 2004 must file an inheritance tax return if the gross value of the deceased person's estate was more than $15,000.
Documentation
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To properly file a Louisiana inheritance tax return, the person filing must include several documents. These documents include an affidavit of death, an inventory of the property received, a federal estate tax return (if applicable), the deceased person's will and a petition for possession.
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Penalties
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The Louisiana government imposes interest penalties for failure to pay the inheritance tax at one-half percent per month. The interest begins to accrue nine months after the person dies. Interest does not accrue if multiple beneficiaries contest the estate's settlement or if the beneficiary did not know about her inheritance
Repeal
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The Louisiana state government repealed the inheritance tax as of Jan. 1, 2010. However, individuals who were beneficiaries of people who died before the tax's repeal and did not file an inheritance tax return may be subject to taxes and penalties that have since accrued.
Property
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The Louisiana inheritance tax applied to all "immovable property located in Louisiana" and "movable tangible and intangible property wherever situated" for residents of Louisiana. In other words, if the beneficiary was a Louisiana resident but received property from as part of someone's will who died in New York would have had to pay the Louisiana inheritance tax. For residents of other states who inherited property from Louisiana residents, those individuals had to pay the inheritance tax on all property that they received that was located in Louisiana.
Exemptions
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The Louisiana inheritance tax exempted money received from life insurance policies, retirement plans and trusts.
Warning
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Please contact a qualified attorney or tax professional to discuss any potential obligations you may have with regard to the Louisiana inheritance tax law.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Louisiana state contour against blurred USA flag image by Stasys Eidiejus from Fotolia.com
