Estimate federal estate tax owed on an estate above the 2026 exemption.
Estimated federal estate tax
—
Taxable estate (after deductions)
—
Exemption remaining
—
Your breakdown
Updates live as you type| Step | Amount |
|---|
Who actually owes federal estate tax
The federal estate tax has a reputation far larger than its reach. It applies only to the value of an estate above the lifetime exclusion, which for estates of people who die in 2026 is $15 million per individual. Everything below the available exclusion passes free of federal estate tax, so the vast majority of estates owe nothing. This calculator takes the gross estate, subtracts deductions for debts, administration expenses, charitable bequests, and amounts left to a spouse, then applies the exclusion and taxes only the excess at the flat 40 percent top rate.
It is written for people with substantial estates doing early planning and for executors preparing to discuss Form 706 with an estate professional. It is a simplified federal estimate, not a Form 706 calculation: it does not model adjusted taxable gifts, credits, portability, valuation discounts, generation-skipping transfer tax, or state death taxes.
A $20 million estate, step by step
Consider a single person with a $20 million gross estate, $500,000 of deductions, and no prior taxable gifts that used up exclusion. Deductions bring the taxable estate to $19.5 million. The full $15 million exclusion applies, leaving $4.5 million of taxable excess. At the simplified 40 percent rate that is a federal estate tax estimate of $1.8 million. The exclusion did most of the work here, shielding about 76.9 percent of the taxable estate before any tax was due.
The deductions and the basis quirk that change everything
Two features of the law dwarf the rate in practical importance. The first is the unlimited marital deduction: anything left to a US citizen spouse passes estate-tax-free, which is why the example uses a single person rather than a married couple. Combined with exclusion portability, a married couple can generally shield close to twice the individual exclusion if the estate is structured properly. The second is the step-up in basis. Assets in the estate are revalued to fair market value at death, so heirs who sell shortly after inheriting owe little or no capital gains tax on the appreciation that happened during the decedent's life. This calculator estimates only the federal estate tax and does not model that income-tax benefit, which often matters more for middle and upper-middle estates than estate tax ever will.
The state taxes a zero federal result can hide
A practical caution: do not assume a result of zero federal tax means no death taxes at all. Some states levy an estate tax, an inheritance tax, or both, often with thresholds far below the federal amount. Those laws change independently and can depend on domicile, the beneficiary, and where property is located. This calculator deliberately does not estimate state liability.
Estate tax questions that come up
How do lifetime gifts affect the estate tax exclusion?
The estate and gift taxes share one unified exclusion. Taxable gifts you make during life, those above the annual exclusion amount, draw down the same pool that shields your estate at death. The calculator lets you enter prior gifts that used exclusion, and it reduces the remaining exclusion available to the estate accordingly, so a large lifetime gifting program can leave less to protect the estate later.
Why does the calculator use a flat 40 percent instead of a bracket table?
The statutory estate tax actually runs through graduated brackets that climb to 40 percent, but because the multimillion-dollar exclusion already absorbs everything the lower brackets would tax, the effective rate on the excess is the 40 percent top rate. Applying 40 percent to the taxable amount above the exclusion produces the same result as the full bracket calculation for any estate large enough to owe tax, which is why the tool uses the simpler flat approach.
Primary sources
- IRS tax year 2026 inflation adjustments, including the $15 million estate-tax basic exclusion.
- Revenue Procedure 2025-32, including the 2026 estate and gift amounts.