Estate Tax Calculator 2026
Calculate your federal and state estate tax liability for 2026 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB). Includes the new $15,000,000 per-person exemption, spousal portability, marital and charitable deductions, and estate taxes for 12 states plus DC. Free, private, runs entirely in your browser.
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An estate tax calculator is a free, browser-based tool that estimates federal and state estate tax from a gross estate value, deductions and spousal portability. For 2026 the federal exemption is $15,000,000 per person under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, so a married couple can shield $30,000,000 and pay roughly 40% on the excess. Updated 2026-09-09.
Federal Estate Tax Exemption in 2026
The federal estate tax exemption for 2026 is $15,000,000 per person, established by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB, P.L. 119-21), signed into law on July 4, 2025. This represents a significant increase from the previous exemption levels under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA), which had set the exemption at approximately $13.61 million for 2024 and was scheduled to revert to roughly $7 million in 2026 before the OBBB intervened.
For married couples, portability allows the surviving spouse to use any unused portion of the deceased spouse's exemption. This means a married couple can effectively shield up to $30,000,000 from federal estate tax. To claim portability, the executor must file IRS Form 706 for the first spouse to die, even if no tax is owed. The Deceased Spousal Unused Exclusion Amount (DSUE) transfers to the surviving spouse and can be combined with their own exemption. Source: IRS Estate Tax page.
How Estate Tax Is Calculated
The federal estate tax uses a progressive bracket system ranging from 18% on the first $10,000 of taxable estate up to 40% on amounts exceeding $1,000,000. However, the unified credit effectively eliminates tax on the first $15,000,000 (the exemption amount). In practice, estates above the exemption pay approximately 40% on the excess, since the lower brackets are absorbed by the credit.
The calculation follows these steps: (1) determine the gross estate value, (2) subtract allowable deductions — marital deduction, charitable bequests, debts, funeral costs, and administration expenses, (3) calculate the tentative tax using the graduated rate table, (4) apply the unified credit (which equals the tax on the exemption amount), and (5) the remaining amount is the federal estate tax owed. State estate taxes, if applicable, are calculated separately using each state's own exemption and rate structure.
State Estate Taxes to Watch
Twelve states and the District of Columbia impose their own estate taxes, often with much lower exemptions than the federal threshold. Even if your estate owes zero federal tax, you may owe state estate tax. Key states include:
- Washington — highest top rate at 20%, exemption ~$2.193M
- Oregon — exemption $1M (lowest in the nation), rates 10-16%
- Massachusetts — exemption $2M, rates 0.8-16%
- New York — exemption ~$6.94M with a "cliff" — if estate exceeds 105% of exemption, the entire estate is taxed
- Connecticut — exemption $13.61M (tied to prior federal), rates 12-12%
- Minnesota — exemption ~$3M, rates 13-16%
- Illinois — exemption $4M, rates 0.8-16%
- Maryland — exemption $5M, plus a separate inheritance tax
- Hawaii, Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont, DC — exemptions range from $1M to $6.8M
State estate tax exemptions do NOT automatically follow the federal exemption increase. Check your state's current law, as many states have decoupled from federal thresholds.
Estate Planning Strategies to Reduce Tax
Several legitimate strategies can reduce or eliminate estate tax liability:
- Marital Deduction: Property passing to a surviving U.S. citizen spouse is 100% deductible — unlimited amount. This defers tax until the second spouse's death.
- Charitable Giving: Bequests to qualified charities are fully deductible. Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRTs) provide income during life and benefit charity at death.
- Annual Gift Exclusion: For 2026, you can gift $19,000 per person per year ($38,000 for married couples) without using any lifetime exemption. This is a powerful tool for reducing estate size over time.
- Irrevocable Trusts: Assets placed in irrevocable trusts are generally removed from the taxable estate. GRATs (Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts) transfer asset appreciation to heirs with minimal or zero gift tax.
- Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs): Life insurance proceeds owned by an ILIT are excluded from the taxable estate while still providing liquidity to pay estate taxes.
Last updated: May 2026. Based on P.L. 119-21 (OBBB) and IRS guidance for tax year 2026.
Lifetime Gifts and the Unified Credit: How Giving Now Changes the Estate Later
Estate tax and gift tax share one lifetime exemption, so a gift above the annual exclusion does not usually trigger tax today — it is reported on the federal gift tax return and reduces the exemption left for the estate. Gifts at or below the annual exclusion, which the IRS indexes and republishes each year, never touch the lifetime amount at all and can be repeated to any number of recipients every year. Two categories sit outside the system entirely: tuition paid directly to the school and medical bills paid directly to the provider are unlimited and count as no gift. This is why a giving plan built on direct payments and annual exclusion gifts preserves far more exemption than one large transfer. Source: IRS — Gift Tax FAQs. Updated 2026-09-17.
Estate Tax Filing Deadlines: Form 706 and the Portability Election
Owing no tax does not mean there is nothing to file, and this is where families most often lose money. IRS Form 706 is due nine months after the date of death, with an automatic six-month extension available by filing Form 4768 before that deadline — note that the extension covers filing, not payment; tax owed still accrues interest from month nine. The trap is portability. To pass a deceased spouse's unused exemption (the DSUE) to the survivor, the executor must file a complete Form 706 and affirmatively elect portability, even when the estate is far below the $15,000,000 threshold and owes nothing. Skip it and the first spouse's $15,000,000 is simply gone, which can expose the second estate to roughly 40% on money that would have been exempt. There is a rescue: for estates with no filing requirement other than portability, Revenue Procedure 2022-32 allows a simplified late election up to five years after death. Beyond that window the only route is a private letter ruling. State deadlines are separate and often shorter, and no state offers portability, so a Connecticut or Washington estate can owe state tax while owing nothing federally. Form details are on the IRS pages for Form 706 and estate tax. Updated 2026-09-09.