Estate Tax Calculator
Work out whether an estate owes federal estate tax for 2026, and how much — with deductions, gifts made during life, and a deceased spouse's unused exclusion all folded in the way Form 706 folds them in.
Who this actually applies to
Almost nobody. The 2026 basic exclusion amount is $15,000,000 per person, and a married couple who use portability properly can pass $30,000,000 before a dollar of federal estate tax is due. Fewer than one estate in a thousand files a taxable return.
That makes this a planning tool rather than a filing one. It is most useful for seeing how close an estate is to the threshold, what a decade of asset growth would do to that margin, and how much of the exclusion lifetime gifting has already spent.
Why the arithmetic is not simply 40% of the excess
It usually arrives at the same answer, which is why the shortcut survives. But the mechanism is different, and the difference shows up the moment lifetime gifts are involved.
The exclusion is not a deduction subtracted from the estate. It is delivered as a credit against the tax — for 2026, $5,945,800, which is exactly the tax the rate schedule produces on $15,000,000. The computation runs: tentative tax on the taxable estate plus lifetime taxable gifts, less gift tax already payable on those gifts, less the credit.
Structuring it that way is what allows lifetime gifts to be pulled back into the calculation without being taxed a second time. Subtract an exclusion instead and gifts either escape entirely or get double-counted, depending on which shortcut you reach for.
Gifts made during life do not disappear
This is the single most common misunderstanding, and it is expensive. Giving away $10,000,000 during your life does not remove it from the estate tax computation — it comes back in as an adjusted taxable gift, and it has already spent $10,000,000 of the exclusion.
What gifting does achieve is removing future growth from the estate. Give away an asset worth $2,000,000 today and it is the $2,000,000 that counts against the exclusion, not the $6,000,000 it might be worth at death. That is the whole case for lifetime giving, and it is a strong one — but it is a different case from the one people usually believe they are making.
Gifts within the annual exclusion are the exception: they never count as taxable gifts and never touch the lifetime exclusion. The gift tax calculator works out how much can move that way each year.
A worked example
A $24,000,000 gross estate with a $1,500,000 mortgage, $500,000 of funeral and administration costs, and a $2,000,000 charitable bequest. Deductions total $4,000,000, leaving a taxable estate of $20,000,000.
The tentative tax on $20,000,000 is $7,945,800. Subtract the $5,945,800 credit and $2,000,000 of federal estate tax is due — which is 40% of the $5,000,000 sitting above the exclusion, arrived at the long way round.
Now change one thing: suppose $10,000,000 of that estate had been given away during life and the estate at death were only $10,000,000. The tax does not fall to zero. The gifts come back into the base, the total is still $20,000,000, and the tax is still $2,000,000.
Portability, and why it is not automatic
When the first spouse dies, whatever exclusion they did not use can transfer to the survivor — the deceased spousal unused exclusion, or DSUE. It is what lets a couple shelter $30,000,000 rather than $15,000,000.
It is not automatic. Claiming it requires a Form 706 to have been filed for the first death, on time, even when that first estate owed nothing and had no other reason to file. Missing that return is one of the more costly administrative errors in estate planning, because the exclusion it forfeits cannot be recovered later.
What this does not model
- State estate and inheritance tax. Several states impose their own at thresholds far below the federal one — in some cases around $1,000,000. An estate owing nothing federally can owe a state a great deal. Enter a figure in the deduction field if you have one.
- Trusts and valuation discounts. Credit shelter trusts, QTIP elections, family limited partnerships, and minority interest discounts all change the answer and none are modelled.
- Generation-skipping transfer tax. A separate tax with its own exemption, applying to transfers to grandchildren and beyond.
- The alternate valuation date. An estate may elect to value assets six months after death instead.
- Non-citizen spouses. The unlimited marital deduction does not apply, and a qualified domestic trust is generally required.
See our methodology for how these tools are built and tested, and sources for every figure used.
Frequently asked questions
How much can I leave without any federal estate tax?
$15,000,000 for someone dying in 2026, or $30,000,000 for a married couple where the first estate filed a Form 706 to preserve portability.
That figure is reduced by any taxable gifts made during life, so the exclusion available at death is what remains rather than the full amount.
Do my heirs pay income tax on what they inherit?
Generally no. An inheritance is not income to the recipient. The estate tax, where it applies, is paid by the estate before anything is distributed.
Inherited assets also receive a stepped-up basis to their value at death, which wipes out the capital gains that accrued during the deceased's lifetime. Inherited retirement accounts are the main exception — withdrawals from a traditional IRA or 401(k) are taxable income to the beneficiary.
Does giving money away before I die reduce estate tax?
Only in specific ways. Gifts above the annual exclusion are added back into the estate tax computation, so the transfer itself does not shrink the taxable base.
What it does remove is future appreciation, along with any income the asset would have produced. Gifts kept within the annual exclusion are genuinely outside the system altogether, which is why regular smaller gifting is the more efficient route for most families.
Is life insurance part of my estate?
If you owned the policy, yes — the full death benefit is included in the gross estate, which surprises people who assume it passes outside it.
A policy owned by an irrevocable life insurance trust, or by the beneficiary, is generally not included. This is a common reason an estate crosses the threshold when the family expected it not to.
What happens to the exclusion after 2026?
The $15,000,000 figure was set by statute for 2026 and is indexed for inflation after that, so it should rise rather than revert.
Exclusion amounts have changed substantially and repeatedly with each change of legislation, so any plan built around a distant future figure is worth revisiting periodically.
When is Form 706 due?
Nine months after the date of death, with a six-month extension available on request.
It is worth filing even for an estate that owes nothing, if there is a surviving spouse — that filing is what preserves the unused exclusion for their eventual estate.
Related calculators
This calculator is provided for general educational and estimation purposes only. It does not constitute tax, legal, accounting, or estate planning advice. Estate tax depends on valuation, trust structures, and elections this tool does not model, and several states levy their own estate or inheritance tax at far lower thresholds. Consult a qualified estate attorney or tax professional before acting. Calc365 is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or approved by any government agency.