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Estate Tax Calculator

Enter your estate value, choose your state, and get an instant estimate of federal and state estate tax for 2026 using current exemptions and rates.

Details

Gross estate value ($)

Prior taxable gifts ($)

Marital deduction ($)

Charitable deduction ($)

Debts & expenses ($)

ZIP code (auto-fills below)

State of residence

Results

Total estate tax -

Taxable estate -

Federal estate tax (40%) -

State estate tax -

Federal exemption remaining -

Effective rate -

State notes -

Figures reflect 2026 law and are not a substitute for professional advice.

By Priya Raman, Contributing Writer, Policy & Regulation
Updated 2026-07-08

What these results mean

Taxable estate is your gross estate (estate value plus any prior taxable gifts) minus the marital, charitable, and debt deductions you enter. The calculator applies the federal exemption to that number at 40%, then repeats the process with your state's own exemption and rate if one applies.

"Exemption remaining" shows how much of the $15 million federal shield is still unused after this estate. "Effective rate" divides total tax by the taxable estate, which is usually well under the 40% marginal rate because the exemption shelters the first several million dollars.

2026 federal figures at a glance

Federal estate tax, 2026 (verified July 2026)
Figure	Amount
Basic exclusion (exemption)	$15,000,000 per person
Top marginal rate	40%
Source	IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (Oct. 9, 2025)

Portability doubles the shelter for couples: a surviving spouse can add the deceased spouse's unused exemption, reaching roughly $30 million combined, but only if the executor files Form 706 to make the election.

More free tools

Check gift tax and step-up in basis next, or open the state-by-state comparison to see every state's exemption side by side.

See all calculators

Why the state you live in changes the bill

The federal exemption gets most of the attention, but state estate tax is where estates get caught off guard. A dozen states plus the District of Columbia run their own system, several with thresholds far below the federal line: Oregon starts at $1 million and Massachusetts at $2 million. An estate that owes the IRS nothing can still generate a five- or six-figure bill from its home state, which is exactly what the "State estate tax" row above is built to catch.

Deductions that shrink what's taxed

Marital deduction: anything left to a surviving U.S. citizen spouse passes free of estate tax, with no dollar cap.
Charitable bequests: gifts to qualifying charities come off the taxable estate dollar for dollar.
Debts and administration costs: mortgages, final medical bills, funeral costs, and the executor's expenses all reduce the total before either exemption applies.

Gifting during life is the other lever. The gift tax calculator walks through how the annual exclusion and lifetime exemption work together, and the step-up in basis calculator shows the capital-gains tradeoff of gifting versus holding an asset until death.

Good to know

Questions people bring to this calculator

Why does the calculator ask for prior taxable gifts?

Lifetime taxable gifts count against the same exemption used at death, so the IRS adds them back to the gross estate before applying the $15 million 2026 exemption. Leaving this at zero assumes no prior taxable gifts.

Why is my state estate tax different from the federal number?

Each state sets its own exemption and rate. A dozen states plus DC tax estates the federal government would not touch, because their thresholds sit well under $15 million.

What should I enter for debts and expenses?

Mortgages, final medical bills, funeral costs, and the executor's administration expenses. These reduce the gross estate before the exemption is applied, on both the federal and state side.

Does the ZIP code field change the tax calculation?

No. It only auto-selects the matching state in the dropdown above. You can ignore it and pick your state directly.

Can I trust this number for filing?

Treat it as a planning estimate, not a filing figure. Form 706 has additional rules around valuation and elections that a calculator cannot fully capture.