NY Lawmaker's Wealth Tax Plan Would Levy Up to 50% on Inheritances Over $10 Million

New York lawmaker Brisport has proposed a sliding-scale inheritance tax that starts at 5% on the portion of an inheritance between $250,000 and $500,000 and climbs to 50% on amounts above $10 million, according to NerdWallet. The campaign says the tax would affect only the wealthiest 1% of inheritances, since any amount below $250,000 would remain untaxed.

The inheritance tax is one piece of a broader plan that also includes adding new, higher income-tax brackets for the state's top earners and amending the New York Constitution to allow a direct tax on wealthy residents' accumulated financial assets. Brisport has not specified a dollar threshold for who would count as "wealthy" under that separate wealth-tax proposal.