Legislation to Exempt Estate Sales From Sales Tax Heads To Governor

Senator Jonathan Nichols has won approval from the legislature for a measure to exempt estate sales from taxation. The Norman Republican says the whole idea is to make dealing with the loss of a loved one less complicated for the family.

It is hard enough to deal with the death of a parent or other loved one, but often the family must endure liquidating the estate of the deceased. But then having to sit down and figure out sales taxes on those belongings is just an additional burden the family doesnt need at a time like that, said Senator Nichols.

Senator Nichols says Senate Bill 935 will remove that burden. The legislation exempts sales of personal property as long as the estate sale is held at the home of the deceased. The sale must be conducted within six months of the persons death and cannot last more than three days. The exemption would not apply if the sale is conducted by an auctioneer or a person in the estate sale business.

The passage of this legislation was a bipartisan effort, said Nichols. The leadership of Senator Cal Hobson was particularly instrumental in getting SB 935 out of conference.

The legislature was faced with some very difficult decisions regarding the budget this year, but Im very pleased both the House and Senate agreed we needed to approve this piece of legislation, commented Senator Nichols. The bottom line is families should not have to deal with tax forms and complicated paper work when theyre having to sell the personal belongings of their deceased loved one. Hopefully this legislation will make that process less complicated.

The legislation now moves to the Governor for his signature.