NC Gift Tax Repealed After All

In what comes as a surprise to me, based on the last news as reported in my postings in the last week or so, yesterday Governor Easley signed HB2436, which includes (page 201) a complete repeal of the North Carolina Gift Tax (Article 6 of Chapter 105 of General Statutes), effective January 1, 2009.

This will certainly make estate tax planning and Medicaid planning easier (and less expensive, in some cases) for North Carolinians.  I personally will miss the NC gift tax, since I enjoyed advising people about its peculiarities as compared to the federal gift tax.  After all, it it weren’t for taxes, my job would be much less interesting!