AUGUSTA — Maine Gov. Paul LePage is introducing legislation to eliminate the tax that Mainers pay when they inherit large estates.

Under current law, estates valued at nearly $5.5 million are exempt from the estate tax, which is triggered when the ownership of a property transfers as a result of death.

The Legislature last year more than doubled the previous $2 million state exemption to bring Maine’s tax code line with the federal tax code. The higher exemption went into effect Jan. 1

In the six-month period that ended Dec. 31, Maine collected $12.6 million in revenues from the estate tax, but that figure is expected to decline in future years because of the higher exemption.