SECTION 1. Section 3 of Chapter 65C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition is hereby amended by striking out the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following:- (a) for decedents dying after: (i) December thirty-first two thousand and sixteen an exemption equal to the Massachusetts net estate shall be allowed if the Massachusetts net estate is one million two hundred thousand dollars or less; (ii) December thirty-first two thousand and seventeen, an exemption equal to the Massachusetts net estate shall be allowed if the Massachusetts net estate is less than one million two hundred thousand dollars multiplied by the percentage (if any) by which the Consumer Price Index, as defined by the Code, for the preceding calendar year, exceeds the Consumer Price Index for the calendar year 2005; provided that the exemption shall not exceed an amount equal to the smallest federal taxable estate that absorbs the allowable federal credit under section two thousand and ten of the Internal Revenue Code as amended and in effect as of the date of death of the decedent. Except for purposes of the final clause of subsection (a) of section two of chapter sixty-five C, if the Massachusetts net estate exceeds the amount of the exemption, no exemption shall apply.