Estate Tax Calculator
$0.00 estimated federal estate tax
How the Federal Estate Tax Is Calculated
The federal estate tax applies only to the portion of a taxable estate that exceeds the lifetime exemption amount. This calculator starts with your gross estate (the fair market value of everything you own at death), subtracts debts, funeral and administrative expenses, and any marital or charitable deductions to arrive at your net taxable estate. Taxable gifts made during your lifetime above the annual gift exclusion are added back in, since the federal exemption is unified across gifts and estates. The actual tax owed is calculated the way IRS Form 706 does it: the cumulative Section 2001(c) bracket tax on your entire net taxable estate, minus the same bracket tax calculated on an amount equal to your exemption (the "applicable credit amount"). Because the exemption is always well above the $1 million top-bracket threshold, this works out to a flat 40% on every dollar above your exemption.
A Note on the Exemption Amount
The federal exemption is indexed for inflation and has changed significantly in recent years — it is set at $15 million per person starting in 2026 under current law, up from roughly $13.99 million in 2025, with married couples able to combine both spouses' exemptions through portability (by filing IRS Form 706 for the first spouse to die). Because exemption levels are a moving target and depend on your specific year of death and any portability elections, the exemption field above is fully editable so you can model your own assumptions. Many states also levy a separate estate or inheritance tax with a much lower exemption threshold (often $1-7 million), which is why a separate state exemption field is included — enter 0 if your state has no estate tax.
Estate Planning Can Reduce This Bill
Strategies such as annual gifting under the yearly exclusion, irrevocable life insurance trusts, and charitable remainder trusts can meaningfully shrink a taxable estate well before this calculation ever applies. If you're also weighing how retirement accounts fit into your estate, the RMD calculator and Roth IRA calculator can help you plan withdrawals and conversions that reduce the taxable balance passed on to heirs.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the federal estate tax exemption for 2026?
Under current law the federal estate tax exemption is $15 million per individual starting in 2026 (up from about $13.99 million in 2025), indexed for inflation in future years. Married couples can effectively combine both spouses' exemptions through portability, which requires the surviving spouse's estate to file IRS Form 706 for the first spouse who died. Because this amount can change with future legislation, the exemption field in this calculator is fully editable.
Is the estate tax the same as an inheritance tax?
No. The federal estate tax is paid by the estate itself before assets are distributed, based on the total value of everything the deceased owned. An inheritance tax, by contrast, is levied on individual heirs based on what they personally receive and is only imposed by a handful of states, not the federal government. Some states charge an estate tax, some charge an inheritance tax, some charge both, and many charge neither — check your state's specific rules separately from this federal-focused calculator.