Tool · Estate tax calculator
Estimate your federal & state estate tax
Enter an estate value and state to estimate combined federal and state estate-tax liability and probate costs, using the permanent $15M federal exemption.
Data updated 2026-08-06
- $15M
- Federal exemption (permanent, 2026)
- 40%
- Federal top rate
- 13
- States with their own estate tax
- 51
- States + DC covered
According to the Internal Revenue Service Statistics of Income, federal estate tax applies only above the exemption, which the One Big Beautiful Bill Act made a permanent $15,000,000 per person effective 2026 (signed July 4, 2025), with a top rate of 40% on the amount above it. This calculator adds your state's own estate tax where one applies, 13 states plus DC levy one per the Tax Foundation survey (current as of federal exemption 2026 | Tax Foundation 2024 state survey), several starting below $1,000,000, plus an estimate of probate cost. See our methodology for the data sources and the formulas used.
What determines your bill
Three things drive an estate's tax: whether it exceeds the permanent $15M federal exemption, whether your state levies its own (often far lower) estate tax, and your state's probate cost.
- $15M
- Federal exemption, below it, no federal tax
- 40%
- Federal top rate, above the exemption
- 13
- States with their own estate tax
- 6
- States with an inheritance tax (paid by heirs)
Most estates owe no federal estate tax, your state and your probate costs are usually the bigger variables.
Calculate Your Estimated Estate Tax
Estimated Tax Liability
The 2026 "sunset" was repealed
The TCJA exemption was scheduled to drop to roughly $7M after 2025, but the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (July 2025) repealed that sunset and set a permanent $15,000,000 exemption ($30M per couple), effective 2026 and indexed for inflation.
Read the federal estate tax sunset guide →Calculator Notes
- Estimates use top marginal rate, not graduated brackets, actual liability may be lower
- Marital deduction: spouses can inherit unlimited assets tax-free
- Portability: married couples may transfer unused exemption to surviving spouse (federal only)
- Annual gift exclusion ($18,000/person, inflation-adjusted periodically) reduces taxable estate over time
- Trusts (GRAT, SLAT, ILIT) can significantly reduce estate tax
Common Strategies
- Annual Gifts - $18K/person/year reduces estate
- 529 Plans - 5-year gift election up to $90K
- Irrevocable Trusts - Remove assets from estate
- Charitable Giving - Unlimited deduction
- GRATs - Transfer appreciation tax-free
Your state watchlist
Saved on this device. Re-open your last estate value and tax rules when statutes or IRS SOI vintages update.
Add the feed to any RSS reader to see registry refreshes for your saved states when IRS SOI vintages or statutory rows change. The URL encodes your list directly (no account).
No states saved yet. Run an estimate, then choose Save state to watchlist.
Compare state rules
Compare two state estate-tax estimates
Use one estate value to compare each state's exemption and top marginal rate. This side-by-side view excludes federal tax and probate costs so the state-rule difference stays clear.
Every figure on PlainEstate is rendered directly from IRS Statistics of Income and state statutory data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on IRS Statistics of Income and state statutory data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, the data changelog, or report a data error about this page. Data current as of federal exemption 2026 | Tax Foundation 2024 state survey.
Download the 51-jurisdiction estate-tax registry cited on this page: estate-tax-registry.csv (CC BY 4.0).