This bill amends existing Washington estate tax law (RCW 83.100.040 and 2025 c 421 s 202) to specify how the estate tax is calculated and to provide three different rate tables that apply depending on the decedent’s date of death: before July 1, 2025; on or after July 1, 2025 but before April 1, 2026; and on or after April 1, 2026. It imposes a tax on every transfer of property located in Washington and treats intangible property owned by a resident as located in Washington for estate tax purposes. When any property in the decedent’s estate is located outside Washington, the tax computed from the tables is multiplied by a fraction whose numerator is the value of property located in Washington and whose denominator is the decedent’s gross estate; property that qualifies for deduction under RCW 83.100.046 is excluded from both numerator and denominator. The statute is expressly stated to be a stand-alone Washington estate tax that incorporates only provisions of the Internal Revenue Code as amended or renumbered as of January 1, 2005, to the extent they do not conflict with the chapter, and it is independent of the federal estate tax. Legally, this is an amendment to existing law that establishes specific rate tables and calculation and apportionment procedures and clarifies the situs of resident intangible property and the reference date for incorporated federal provisions. The extracted text does not show any changes to penalties and does not define the term “Washington Taxable Estate” or other cross-references that may appear elsewhere; other provisions of the bill, if any, are not included in the provided facts.

If enacted, estates of people who die in Washington will have their state estate tax figured using one of three different rate schedules depending on the date of death, so the amount heirs or estate administrators pay to the state can change based on when the decedent died. Residents who own intangible assets (like stocks, bonds, or other non‑physical investments) will effectively have those assets treated as Washington property for estate tax purposes, which likely increases the portion of an estate subject to Washington tax and could raise tax bills or compliance work for those estates. Estates that include property outside Washington will generally pay only a proportionate share of the tax based on the Washington property’s value relative to the gross estate, which can lower state tax when significant assets are elsewhere, but items deductible under RCW 83.100.046 are excluded from that apportionment fraction. The state tax is defined to follow only federal tax rules as they existed on January 1, 2005, so subsequent federal changes won’t automatically change Washington liability; the exact rate numbers, the definition of “Washington Taxable Estate,” and any other bill provisions are not included here, so some implementation details remain unclear.