How much federal estate tax could the estate owe?

Use this free federal estate tax calculator for a U.S. citizen or domiciled decedent's gross estate, allowable marital and charitable deductions, adjusted taxable gifts, and recomputed prior gift tax. Portability is included only when you enter and confirm a documented DSUE amount. This estimates a tax paid by the estate, not an inheritance tax on each recipient. The 2027 option uses provisional 2026 indexed baselines.

Transfer-tax domicile differs from income-tax residence.

Exclude marital, charitable, and state death-tax amounts entered separately.

Separately determined deductible state tax, not calculated automatically.

Exclude gifts already in the gross estate; use the reconciled Form 706 amount.

Hypothetical line 7 amount at death-year rates, not historical payments or tentative tax on all gifts.

Verified Form 706 Part VI Section D amount; not automatically doubled for marriage.

federal estate tax calculator

Quick answer

Federal estate tax applies unified rates to the taxable estate plus adjusted taxable gifts, then subtracts recomputed prior gift tax and applicable credit. The 2026 basic exclusion is $15 million per decedent; DSUE is never automatic.

Also answers

  • estate tax unified credit
  • Form 706 calculator
  • DSUE portability input
  • adjusted taxable gifts estate tax

Good fit when

  • Simple U.S. citizen or domiciled estates
  • Executors with reconciled gift records
  • Documented DSUE and deduction scenarios

Have ready

  • Death year and gross estate
  • Allowable marital, charity, other, and state death-tax deductions
  • Adjusted taxable gifts and verified prior gift tax
  • Verified DSUE

Result you get

Taxable estate, unified tax base, tentative unified tax, prior-gift-tax subtraction, applicable credit, federal estate tax, and ordinary filing-threshold flag.

Gift tax and lifetime usageNew York estate tax2027 published amounts and planning status

How this calculation works

  • Subtracts entered allowable marital, charitable, debt/administrative, and state death-tax deductions from the gross estate.
  • Adds adjusted taxable gifts not already in the gross estate and applies IRS Form 706 Table A, with rates from 18% through 40%.
  • Subtracts a verified Form 706 line 7 hypothetical prior-gift-tax amount, then the credit on basic exclusion plus entered verified DSUE.
  • Preserves the 2025 $13,990,000 and 2026 $15,000,000 basic exclusions. 2027 uses an explicitly provisional 2026 baseline.
  • Separately tests the ordinary gross-estate-plus-gifts filing threshold against basic exclusion, without allowing deductions or DSUE to erase that threshold.

Common mistakes and caveats

  • Simple U.S. citizen/domiciled estates only; entered property values and deductions must already be determined correctly.
  • Blocks nonresident noncitizens, noncitizen marital deductions, unresolved trusts/QTIP, special valuation, GST, restored exclusion, pre-1977 adjustments, foreign death credits, and credits for tax on prior transfers.
  • Prior gift tax is a reconciled hypothetical amount, not the sum of old payments. Split gifts included in an estate may need excluded special-treatment adjustments.
  • DSUE is a verified input, not a portability-election service or a computation of the amount transferable to a surviving spouse.
  • No state estate tax, recipient income tax, penalties, installments, or amounts due after estimated payments are calculated.

FAQ

Does the calculator subtract the exemption from the estate and multiply by 40%?

It uses the actual unified tax schedule: tax on taxable estate plus adjusted taxable gifts, minus the Form 706 hypothetical prior gift tax, minus the applicable credit. A simple 40% excess formula can match common large-estate cases but is not the full calculation.

How do earlier taxable gifts affect estate tax?

Adjusted taxable gifts generally add post-1976 taxable gifts not already included in the gross estate to the tax base. The separate prior-gift-tax subtraction is recomputed under the Form 706 worksheets at death-year rates. Gifts and prior tax must be reconciled, not inferred from historical payments.

Does marriage automatically provide a $30 million exemption in 2026?

No. The basic exclusion is $15 million for one decedent in 2026. A documented portability election can make DSUE available from a predeceased spouse, but this tool never assumes an election or automatically doubles the exclusion.

Can an estate owe no tax but still need Form 706?

Yes. The ordinary filing threshold uses gross estate plus adjusted taxable gifts before marital and charitable deductions, not only the net taxable estate. A return may also be needed to elect portability even when the ordinary threshold is not exceeded.

Which marital deduction does this calculator accept?

Enter only a qualifying allowable deduction for an outright transfer to a U.S. citizen spouse. Noncitizen spouses, QDOT, unresolved QTIP or trust eligibility, and special elections are blocked rather than treated as automatically deductible.

Can state estate taxes reduce federal estate tax?

An allowable state death-tax deduction can reduce the federal taxable estate. Enter the separately determined deductible amount; this tool does not automatically calculate state tax or resolve a circular state/federal calculation.

Does the result say what an heir will pay?

No. The result is estimated federal estate tax, not a recipient-level inheritance or income-tax bill. Inherited retirement-account income, basis, and state inheritance taxes need separate analysis.

Last updated & sources

Last updated October 13, 2026.

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