🏛️ Estate Tax Calculator 2026

Estimate what the IRS — and your state — will take from your estate. The 2026 federal exemption rose to $15,000,000 per person under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and a surviving spouse can shelter $30 million with a portability election. Most families pay nothing federally but still owe state estate tax in 12 states. Enter your figures below to see both.

Total Gross Estate ($)

Everything you own: home, investments, retirement accounts, business interests, life insurance proceeds you control.

Debts, Mortgages & Funeral Costs ($)

Deductible against the estate. Only amounts actually paid or payable.

Administration Expenses ($)

Executor fees, attorney, appraisals, probate filing fees.

Marital Status

Portability lets a surviving spouse add any unused exemption from the first spouse to die — effectively doubling the shelter.

Charitable Bequests ($)

Unlimited charitable deduction — reduces the taxable estate dollar for dollar.

State of Residence

📋 Worked Examples

Example 1 — Single retiree, estate just under the line

Scenario: Margaret, a widow in Ohio, dies with a $14.2M estate: $8M in a brokerage account, $4M in a house and rental property, $2.2M in IRAs. Debts and final expenses total $300K; she leaves $100K to her church.

Taxable estate: $14,200,000 − $300,000 − $100,000 = $13,800,000

Federal tax: $13.8M is below the $15M single exemption → $0 federal estate tax. Ohio repealed its estate tax in 2013, so $0 state tax.

Takeaway: Her heirs owe nothing, and the $13.8M of assets get a step-up in basis to date-of-death value — they can sell immediately with almost no capital gains. That step-up is often worth more than the exemption itself.

Example 2 — Married couple without portability, and the cost of forgetting

Scenario: Robert dies with $9M; his wife Susan keeps everything. They never made a portability election. Susan later dies with $19M (grown through returns).

Without portability: Susan has only her own $15M exemption. Taxable excess = $19M − $15M = $4M. Federal tax at 40% = $1,600,000.

With portability: Susan's exemption becomes $15M + $6M unused from Robert = $21M. Taxable excess = $19M − $21M = $0 → $0 federal tax.

Takeaway: Filing Form 706 within 5 years of the first death is what captures portability. It is an election, not automatic. Missing it cost this family $1.6M.

Example 3 — Washington State couple, no federal tax but a large state bill

Scenario: The Chen family in Washington State has a $6M estate. Both exemptions are fully used ($30M combined), so federal tax = $0.

Washington state tax: $6M − $2.193M exemption = $3.807M taxable. Washington's graduated rate on that band lands near $500K–$600K.

Takeaway: Washington's estate tax starts at just $2.193M — less than a decade of Seattle home appreciation for some owners. State planning (annual gifting, QTIP trusts, charitable remainder trusts) matters far more than federal planning for most families now.

📖 Federal Exemptions, Step-Up Basis & the 2026 Landscape

Federal Estate Tax = (Taxable Estate − Exemption) × 40%

Taxable Estate = Gross Estate − Debts − Admin Costs − Charitable Bequests − Marital Deduction

The 2026 federal exemption: $15 million per person

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act set the estate and gift tax basic exclusion amount at $15,000,000 per individual for 2026, indexed for inflation going forward. This was a permanent increase that replaced the scheduled sunset to roughly $7 million. A married couple with a portability election therefore shields $30 million before any federal estate tax applies.

Because the exemption is so high, only a small fraction of estates file Form 706 for tax purposes. Most Form 706s are now filed purely to elect portability or to claim a refund of the deceased spouse's unused exemption.

How the tax is actually computed: the unified credit

The 40% rate is a flat top rate, but it is not applied to your whole estate. The IRS computes a tentative tax on the entire taxable estate, then subtracts a unified credit that exactly offsets the tax on the exemption amount. Practically, this means:

$15,000,000 single / $30,000,000 married → $0 federal tax
Every dollar above that is taxed at 40 cents
There is no graduated bracket structure federally — it is a cliff, not a ramp

Step-up in basis: the benefit most people miss

Assets you leave at death get a new cost basis equal to their fair market value on the date of death. If your mother bought Apple stock for $10,000 and it is worth $400,000 when she dies, her heirs' basis becomes $400,000 — the $390,000 of gain vanishes permanently and is never taxed.

This is why many estates deliberately avoid over-planning. A $2 million Roth conversion, a lifetime gift of appreciated stock, or an upfront sale of real estate can throw away step-up basis worth more than the estate tax it was designed to avoid.

Portability: the election with a deadline

Portability transfers a deceased spouse's unused exemption (the DSUE amount) to the survivor. Key mechanics:

You must file Form 706 for the first spouse's estate to elect it — even if no tax is owed
The election can generally be made or corrected on a late return up to 5 years after the due date under Rev. Proc. 2022-32
The survivor can use the DSUE amount only while unmarried — remarriage forfeits the carryover from a prior spouse

State	Exemption (2026)	Top Rate	Notes
Connecticut	$13,990,000	12% flat	Exemption now matched to federal; no longer a planning state
New York	$7,160,000	16%	Cliff: exceed by 105% and the ENTIRE estate is taxed
Washington	$2,193,000	35%	Highest top rate in the country; broadened in 2025
Massachusetts	$2,000,000	16%	Lowest threshold; 2023 law replaced the old cliff
Oregon	$1,000,000	16%	Lowest threshold, never indexed since 1987
Illinois	$4,000,000	16%	Has both estate and inheritance tax
Maryland	$5,000,000	16%	Both estate and inheritance tax
Minnesota	$3,000,000	16%	Indexed to inflation

What actually goes in the gross estate

Included: real property, securities, cash, retirement accounts (pre-tax IRAs and 401(k)s at full value), closely held business interests, taxable life insurance if you held incidents of ownership, gifts within 3 years of death, jointly held property
Excluded: anything passing outright to a U.S. citizen spouse (unlimited marital deduction), unlimited charitable gifts, life insurance owned by an irrevocable trust you never control

Note the double tax that hits retirement accounts: a $2M IRA is in the gross estate at full value, and after estate tax the heirs then pay ordinary income tax on withdrawal within 10 years. IRAs are almost always the worst asset to leave to a taxable estate and the best to leave to charity, which pays neither tax.

Planning tools in rough order of effectiveness

Strategy	Fits these situations
Portability election (Form 706)	Married couples, first death — always verify or you forfeit it
Annual exclusion gifting ($19,000/donee in 2026)	Reduces estate gradually with no gift tax return for cash gifts
Irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT)	Large policies you'd otherwise have to include
Charitable remainder trust / donor-advised fund	Appreciated low-basis assets, charitably inclined, IRA-heavy estates
QTIP / credit shelter trust	Blended families, control concerns, state tax where portability doesn't apply

Note on trusts: Portability carries the exemption but NOT the step-up advantage of a credit shelter trust in appreciating estates. In a rapidly appreciating estate, a trust structure often beats portability alone. Model both before deciding.

How this calculator handles state tax

State estate tax rules are genuinely complicated — New York has a "cliff" that taxes the entire estate if you exceed 105% of the exemption, Washington has a top rate of 35%, and some states apply graduated brackets to the whole taxable amount rather than the excess. This tool returns a representative estimate for the state you select based on published 2026 exemption and rate schedules. Because the graduated band structures differ by state, treat the state figure as a planning estimate and confirm with the state's own worksheet (New York ET-706, Washington 64-0031, Illinois 700) or a CPA before relying on it for a filing.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Does everyone have to file a Form 706 estate tax return?

No, but more people should consider it. Only estates exceeding the exemption owe tax, so a $5M estate files nothing for tax purposes. However, if you are married and your spouse dies with unused exemption, you should file Form 706 purely to elect portability — even when no tax is due. That election is what lets the survivor later shelter up to $30 million instead of $15 million.

Will the estate tax exemption go down in the future?

The 2026 exemption of $15 million per person is now a permanent, inflation-indexed figure under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. It replaced the scheduled 2026 sunset to roughly $7 million. Future Congresses could change it, and the exemption earned at death is what counts, but there is no longer a scheduled cliff to plan around — which removed much of the urgency that drove 2024–2025 planning.

What is the difference between an estate tax and an inheritance tax?

An estate tax is levied on the estate itself before distribution — the executor pays it from estate assets. An inheritance tax is levied on the individual recipient, and the rate often depends on relationship: a spouse or child usually pays nothing while a distant cousin pays a higher rate. Six states still have inheritance taxes: Iowa (phasing out), Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Only Maryland has both.

Are life insurance proceeds counted in my estate?

Yes, if you owned the policy or held any incidents of ownership — the right to change beneficiaries, borrow against it, or surrender it. The full death benefit is included, not the cash value. That can be a shock: a $1.5M policy on someone with a $14M estate pushes them over the federal line. An irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) removes it from the estate, provided you transfer ownership more than 3 years before death.

Do retirement accounts get the same step-up in basis as other assets?

No. Only after-tax assets get the step-up. A traditional IRA or 401(k) is fully in the gross estate at fair market value, and your heirs still pay ordinary income tax on every dollar they withdraw — the SECURE Act generally requires full withdrawal within 10 years for non-spouse beneficiaries. That double layer (estate tax plus income tax) makes IRAs the least efficient asset to leave to a taxable estate and the best candidate for charitable bequests.

What happens if my estate is worth $15.5 million as a single person?

You pay 40% on exactly $500,000 — about $200,000 — because the federal estate tax is a cliff, not a graduated ramp. There is no phase-in. You became taxable the moment the estate passed $15 million. The remaining $15 million passes free, and the tax is paid by the estate before distribution, so heirs receive $15.3 million net rather than $15.5 million.

Can I give money away before death to avoid estate tax?

Yes, and 2026 makes it more attractive because the lifetime gift and estate exemption are unified at $15 million. You can also give $19,000 per recipient per year (2026 annual exclusion) to as many people as you want with no gift tax return required and without touching the lifetime exemption. A couple can give $38,000 per child per year. Spreading annual gifts over a decade moves substantial wealth out of the estate with no filing burden.

⚠️ Important Disclaimer: This estate tax calculator provides planning estimates only and is not tax, legal, or accounting advice. Federal and state estate tax law changes frequently — the 2026 federal exemption is $15,000,000 per individual with a 40% top rate, but state schedules differ materially and some states apply graduated brackets to the entire taxable estate rather than only the excess. State figures returned here are representative estimates, not filing-grade computations. Estate tax positions can be difficult or impossible to unwind after death. Consult a CPA, estate attorney, or enrolled agent in your state before making gifts, electing portability, or relying on a projection for an actual Form 706 filing.