Federal estate tax calculator 2026

What the estate tax is, and who pays it

The federal estate tax is a tax on the right to pass property at death. It is paid by the estate before heirs receive their shares; it is not an income tax on the heirs. Because the 2026 exclusion is $15,000,000 per person, only estates above that level owe federal tax, but a state tax can start at a much lower threshold. The calculator is for people who think they might be near or above the line, for executors who need an early estimate, and for couples deciding whether portability is worth a Form 706.

What is the federal estate tax exclusion for 2026?

For people who die in 2026 the basic exclusion amount is $15,000,000 per person. The 2025 tax law (the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, section 70106) set it at $15,000,000 and the IRS lists it in Revenue Procedure 2025-32 and in the instructions for Form 706. The amount is indexed for inflation starting with 2027. Only the part of an estate above the exclusion is taxed, at rates that reach 40%. The exclusion is a lifetime total shared with the gift tax: taxable gifts you made while alive use it up, which leaves less for your estate. A married couple has two exclusions, so up to $30,000,000 can pass free of federal estate tax if the surviving spouse can use the first spouse's unused part (portability, explained below).

How is the federal estate tax calculated?

Form 706 applies one rate schedule (Table A in the instructions) to the sum of the taxable estate and the adjusted taxable gifts made after 1976. The schedule starts at 18% on the first $10,000 and climbs in steps to 40% on everything above $1,000,000. From that tentative tax the estate subtracts any gift tax already paid and the unified credit, which is the tax on the exclusion itself: $15,000,000 of exclusion is worth a credit of $5,945,800. Because the credit already covers the lower brackets, what is left is taxed at a flat 40%: an estate of $20,000,000 has a tentative tax of $7,945,800, minus the $5,945,800 credit, which leaves $2,000,000, exactly 40% of the $5,000,000 above the exclusion.

What counts as the estate, and what can be deducted?

The gross estate is everything the person owned or controlled at death: real estate, bank and brokerage accounts, retirement accounts, business interests, the death benefit of life insurance the person owned, and certain transfers made during life. Deductions then reduce it to the taxable estate: debts and funeral and administration expenses, property left to a surviving spouse who is a U.S. citizen (the marital deduction), property left to qualifying charities, and state death taxes actually paid (line 3b of Form 706). Enter these in the calculator as dollar amounts. The calculator does not value anything for you, and it does not apply special valuation rules for farms or closely held businesses.

What is portability, and why file Form 706 when no tax is due?

When the first spouse dies and leaves less than their $15,000,000 exclusion to others, the unused part (called DSUE, the deceased spousal unused exclusion) can be added to the survivor's own exclusion, but only if the executor files Form 706 on time and elects portability. By the Form 706 instructions the DSUE is the smaller of the basic exclusion at death and the person's applicable exclusion minus the taxable estate and adjusted taxable gifts. Example: the first spouse leaves everything to the survivor, so the taxable estate is zero and the DSUE is $15,000,000. The survivor then holds $25,000,000. Without portability the tax is $4,000,000; with it the exclusion is $30,000,000 and the tax is $0. Portability needs a return filed within 9 months of death (or by the extended date if you got the automatic 6-month extension with Form 4768) even if the estate is far below the filing threshold; the IRS also has later relief procedures that the instructions describe.

When must Form 706 be filed, and when is the tax due?

For decedents who died in 2026, the executor must file Form 706 if the gross estate plus adjusted taxable gifts is more than $15,000,000, or if the executor elects portability. The return and the tax are due 9 months after the date of death. Form 4768 gives an automatic 6-month extension to file, but not to pay unless a separate extension of time to pay is granted, and in some cases the tax on a closely held business can be paid in installments under section 6166. The calculator tells you whether your numbers cross the filing line.

Do states have their own estate or inheritance taxes?

Yes, some do, and their thresholds are often far lower than the federal one, so an estate can owe state tax and no federal tax. For example, the Washington Department of Revenue lists an estate tax exclusion of $3,000,000 for deaths on or after July 1, 2026. States differ in whether they tax the estate (like the federal system) or tax each heir's inheritance, and rules change often. This calculator covers the federal tax only. Check your state revenue department before relying on the result; if you pay state death tax, it can be deducted on the federal return, which is why the calculator has a field for it.

How does the calculator work? Example

Take a single person with a gross estate of $30,000,000, debts and expenses of $1,000,000, $4,000,000 left to a spouse, $5,000,000 left to charity and $3,000,000 of taxable gifts made during life. The taxable estate is $20,000,000; adding the gifts gives $23,000,000. The tentative tax is $9,145,800; minus the $5,945,800 credit on the exclusion, the federal estate tax is $3,200,000. These are example numbers for a very large estate, not a typical one.

Limits of this method

The result is only as good as the values you enter. Use the values the Form 706 instructions call for (generally the value at the date of death), and note that the Form 706 instructions point to extra rules for special-use valuation of farm and business real property (the cap on the reduction is $1,460,000 for 2026), for the generation-skipping transfer tax, and for property held by non-citizen spouses. Gifts count only if they were taxable: annual-exclusion gifts do not belong in the prior-gift field. Trusts, retirement accounts and life insurance can be outside the estate or inside it depending on who owns and controls them, which is a legal question this calculator cannot settle.

An estimate for planning only — not legal or tax advice; a Form 706 and a lawyer or CPA decide. Sources: IRS Instructions for Form 706 (Rev. July 2026), Part II and Table A (unified rate schedule), filing requirements for 2026 decedents, DSUE and portability; IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32, section 3.14 (basic exclusion amount of $15,000,000 for 2026); IRS What’s New — Estate and Gift Tax (reviewed July 23, 2026); Washington Department of Revenue, Estate tax; checked October 27, 2026. See the same exclusion used on the gift tax calculator, compare other federal taxes in the income tax calculator and the capital gains tax calculator, and plan retirement assets with the RMD calculator. How we check our calculators.