Estate Tax Calculator (2026 $15M Exemption)
Estimate 2026 federal estate tax under the OBBBA $15,000,000 exemption — 40% on every dollar above the line, $30 million for married couples electing portability, and how much headroom your estate has left.
Estate Tax — interactive calculator, computed instantly in your browser.
Federal Estate Tax in 2026: the $15 Million Exemption and the 40% Rate
Tax = 40% × (Estate + Prior Gifts − $15,000,000)
| Line | Amount | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Gross estate | $18,000,000 | Home, investments, business, retirement, insurance |
| − Debts, funeral & administration | $500,000 | Allowable deductions |
| − Charitable transfers | $250,000 | Unlimited if to qualifying charities |
| Taxable base (with $0 prior gifts) | $17,250,000 | Estate + lifetime taxable gifts |
| − 2026 exemption | $15,000,000 | $30,000,000 combined with portability |
| Amount above the line | $2,250,000 | Fully inside the top 40% bracket |
| Federal estate tax | $900,000 | 5.00% effective on the gross estate |
Key Point: The 40% only touches what clears $15,000,000 — a married couple electing portability combines to $30,000,000 and pays $0 on this same estate.
The federal estate tax is a levy on what you leave behind — and in 2026 the threshold is the highest it has ever been. The One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act made the $15,000,000 per-person exemption permanent and indexed it to inflation, so roughly 99.9% of American estates owe nothing. The estates that do cross the line face a flat 40% on every dollar above it. This calculator runs the exact math, including prior taxable gifts.
1. The 2026 Exemption: $15 Million per Person
- $15,000,000 individual exemption for deaths in 2026 (indexed annually thereafter).
- $30,000,000 combined when a surviving spouse elects portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion on a timely filed Form 706.
- The exemption covers gifts and estate together — lifetime taxable gifts reduce it dollar for dollar.
- The 2025 OBBBA made this permanent, replacing the scheduled 2026 rollback to roughly $7 million.
2. What Counts in the Gross Estate and What Comes Off
The gross estate sweeps in nearly everything you control: real estate, brokerage accounts, retirement plans, closely held business interests, most life insurance proceeds, and jointly held property (partly). Allowable deductions then remove debts and mortgages, funeral and administration expenses, unlimited charitable transfers, and — for a surviving spouse — the unlimited marital deduction, which is why a properly structured first death usually triggers $0. In our example, $18,000,000 − $500,000 − $250,000 leaves a $17,250,000 base.
3. The 40% Rate and the Unified Credit
IRC §2001(c) nominally applies a graduated 18% to 40% schedule — but the unified credit ($5,945,800 in 2026) absorbs the tax on everything below $15,000,000. Because the schedule tops out at 40% above $1,000,000, any dollar above the exemption is taxed at exactly 40 cents. On the example estate, $2,250,000 above the line owes $900,000 — a 5.00% effective rate on the gross estate, a clean illustration of why this is a tax on the very wealthy rather than the merely comfortable.
4. How Families Legally Reduce the Estate Tax
Portability is the first move — elect it on Form 706 even when no tax is due. Lifetime annual exclusion gifts ($19,000 per recipient in 2026) move assets out of the estate tax-free every year. ILIT-owned life insurance, spousal lifetime access trusts, and charitable remainder trusts handle larger amounts. Growing assets inside the estate also invites double taxation — model the capital-gains side with the 📈 Capital Gains Tax Calculator, size the accumulation years with the 🏖️ Retirement Calculator, and check the Social Security layer with the 🛡️ Social Security Calculator — all inside the 💰 Financial Hub.
🔗 Wealth Transfer Cross-References
Estate tax falls on what remains after a lifetime of growth — model that growth with the 🏖️ Retirement Calculator, the ladder your heirs inherit tax-free basis with the 💰 Dividend Calculator, and the benefit that stacks on top with the 🛡️ Social Security Calculator inside the 💰 Financial Hub.
Assets sold inside the estate owe capital gains first — the 📈 Capital Gains Tax Calculator covers 2026 LTCG rates, and the 🏛️ Tax Bracket Calculator shows the income-tax side of trust payouts.
Frequently Asked Questions (Estate Tax)
$15,000,000 per individual and $30,000,000 for a married couple when the survivor elects portability — set permanently by the 2025 OBBBA and indexed to inflation each year (the 2026 figure of $15,000,000 was published by the IRS). Assets up to that level pass free of federal estate tax; everything above it is taxed at 40%.
The statute has a graduated schedule from 18% to 40%, but the unified credit of $5,945,800 (2026) pays the tax on the first $15,000,000 entirely. Since the schedule tops out at 40% above $1,000,000, every dollar of taxable estate above the exemption is taxed at exactly 40% — no partial-bracket relief applies at that height.
About a dozen states and the District of Columbia levy their own estate tax with exemptions far below the federal figure — commonly $1 million to $7 million — plus top rates around 12% to 16%. Maryland and New Jersey also have inheritance taxes that vary by beneficiary. Dying domiciled in a high-threshold state versus a no-tax state can be a six-figure difference.
Portability lets a surviving spouse inherit the deceased spouse's unused exemption (DSUE) and add it to their own — turning $15,000,000 into $30,000,000. It is not automatic: the survivor must file a timely estate tax return (Form 706) within nine months of death (with a six-month extension) and make the election, even when the first estate owes no tax.
$19,000 per recipient per year in 2026 (double for a spouse splitting gifts) without touching the lifetime exemption — college tuition paid directly to the institution and medical bills paid directly to providers also do not count. Gifts above the annual exclusion use the same $15,000,000 lifetime exemption that covers the estate, so large lifetime gifting is simply the estate tax paid early.