Estate Tax
Estate Tax Distributions to all Governmental Units
for Settlement Periods during Calendar Year 2004
Although the Tax Commissioner is the principal administrator
of Ohio's estate tax, the tax is locally collected by the
treasurer of the county in which the decedent resided.
Payment by the estate administrator is due no later than nine
months from the date of the decedent's death (although
installment payments are allowed for some estates).
After processing the semi-annual settlements required by
section 5731.46 of the Ohio Revised Code, each county
distributes estate tax revenue to the state and local
governments. The money is distributed as follows:
• Estates with dates of death prior to January 1, 2001: 64
percent to the municipal corporation or township of origin;
36 percent, less cost of local administration, to the state
General Revenue Fund.
• Estates with dates of death on or after January 1, 2001 to
December 31, 2001: 70 percent to the municipal corporation or
township of origin; 30 percent, less cost of local
administration, to the state General Revenue Fund.
• Estates with dates of death on or after January 1, 2002: 80
percent to the municipal corporation or township of origin;
20 percent, less cost of local administration, to the state
General Revenue Fund.
Total estate tax revenues distributed to all local entities
amounted to $201.1 million in calendar year 2004. The amount
remitted to the state was $55.6 million in 2004. The local
distributions ranged from a high of $23.4 million in the City
of Cincinnati, Hamilton County, to a low of -$51,849 in
Liberty Township, Putnam County. It should be noted that a
couple counties did not submit a full year of data for this
publication: Morgan and Noble.
When an estate has property in more than one jurisdiction,
the county that processes the return must distribute the
taxes due to those localities. In reporting this information,
most counties cite each jurisdiction outside of their county
along with the amount distributed to them. However, some
counties do not or can not specify these jurisdictions. These
entries are accounted for and labeled “unidentified”.
The figures shown are compiled from a survey of county
auditors conducted by the Ohio Department of Taxation.