Maryland’s other death tax is a punishment for not having children

By: Steven Messmer

Outlets: Maryland Matters

Published: January 22, 2026

Words: 848

Last Updated: 3 weeks, 4 days ago

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When people talk about the “death tax,” they mean the estate tax, a tax on the ultra-wealthy. But Maryland has another death tax — the Maryland inheritance tax, a tax on non-wealthy Marylanders who did not have children.

The Maryland inheritance tax is often conflated with the estate taxes, so people assume that this is a tax on the wealthy. In fact, it’s a tax that only burdens non-wealthy people. More precisely, wealthy people do …

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