Tools/Tax & estate/Estate Tax Calculator✓ CHECKED AGAINST WORKED EXAMPLES · SEP 29, 2026

Will my estate owe federal estate tax?

Enter what you own and owe, and see whether your estate is over the 2026 federal exclusion, how much tax that would mean, and how much room is left under it.

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Everything you own$Home, investments, retirement accounts, business interests and life insurance you own, at what they are worth. Prefilled from your Money Map’s investments and cash: add the rest.Debts and final expenses$What you owe, plus funeral and estate-settlement costs.Left to charity$Bequests to qualified charities are deducted.Taxable gifts already made$Lifetime gifts above the $19,000 a year per person that are not tax-free (reported on Form 709). They use up part of the exclusion.

Whose estate

One exclusion.

FEDERAL ESTATE TAXNO FEDERAL ESTATE TAX

For one person’s estate, a taxable estate of $417,000 is $14,583,000 below the $15,000,000 federal exclusion for 2026, so no federal estate tax is due. Federal estate tax would start when assets pass $15,012,000.

Taxable estate

$417,000

2026 exclusion

$15,000,000

Room under it

$14,583,000

Tax starts at

$15,012,000

UNDERSTAND YOUR RESULT

LIBRARY CHAPTEREstate Rules for People Who Are Not CitizensWhy domicile, not income-tax residence, decides US estate tax; the full exclusion but no unlimited marital deduction when a spouse is not a citizen; the much smaller exemption on US assets for nonresidents; treaties; and steps that protect heirs.LIBRARY CHAPTERGifts, Estate Tax and Passing Wealth Across GenerationsHow the 2026 federal gift and estate tax works, portability and state estate taxes, gifts that never count, moving growth out of an estate, the step-up in basis, and dynasty and life insurance trusts.

Terms:Digital asset (estate planning)Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA)Step-up in basis Letter of instruction Beneficiary designation Buy-sell agreement

Federal estate tax by size of estate

The tax is zero until assets pass $15,012,000 and then rises 40 cents for each dollar. At $429,000 you owe none.

Federal estate tax at different estate sizes

Yours: $429k

$5.00M

$10.00M

$15.00M

$20.00M

$2.00M

$30.00M

$6.00M

$50.00M

$14.00M

With the same debts, charity and earlier gifts, a $50.00M estate owes $13,995,200 and a $15.00M estate owes $0. A married couple’s survivor has a second exclusion to add.

How the tax is figured

Step	Amount
Everything you own	$429,000
Less debts and final expenses	−$12,000
Less left to charity	$0
Taxable estate	$417,000
Plus earlier taxable gifts	$0
Amount subject to tax	$417,000
Less the basic exclusion	−$15,000,000
Over the exclusion	$0
Tax at 40%	$0

Start with $429,000, take off $12,000 of debts and charity, add $0 of earlier taxable gifts, and compare the $417,000 with the $15,000,000 exclusion.

What moves the needle

Each row re-runs the calculation with one change. Click to apply.

How it's computed

FORMULA

Taxable estate = everything you own − debts and final expenses − left to charity

Amount subject to tax = taxable estate + earlier taxable gifts

Tax = 40% × the amount over the exclusion ($15,000,000 for a death in 2026, plus a deceased spouse’s unused amount for a couple)

Tax starts at: assets = exclusion − earlier gifts + debts + charity

The 2026 basic exclusion is $15,000,000 per person and the top rate is 40% (IRS; 26 U.S.C. §§ 2001 and 2010). Congress can change both; check the IRS’s current figure for a later year.
One exclusion applies. A married couple’s survivor can add the first spouse’s unused exclusion if the estate elects it on a timely return.
Only federal estate tax is modelled. Some states have their own estate or inheritance tax with much lower exemptions, and they are not counted here.
Not modelled: the marital deduction at the first death, generation-skipping transfer tax, trusts, valuation discounts on closely held businesses, and the cost basis step-up your heirs get. Property left to a spouse who is a US citizen is not taxed at the first death.
The gift tax and the estate tax share one exclusion. Gifts under the annual exclusion of $19,000 per recipient do not use it; larger gifts, reported on Form 709, do, and are added back here.

WORKED EXAMPLE · SAMPLE NUMBERS

$429,000 owned − $12,000 debts and expenses − $0 to charity = $417,000 taxable estate. Plus $0 of earlier taxable gifts = $417,000. The 2026 exclusion is $15,000,000, so $14,583,000 is left under it and there is no tax.

SOURCES

[1]What’s New — Estate and Gift TaxInternal Revenue Service [2]Frequently asked questions on estate taxesInternal Revenue Service [3]26 U.S. Code § 2001: Imposition and rate of taxLegal Information Institute, Cornell Law School [4]26 U.S. Code § 2010: Unified credit against estate taxLegal Information Institute, Cornell Law School [5]Gift taxInternal Revenue Service

HSBuilt by Hussain Sehorewala · checked against worked examples · Sep 29, 2026

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Questions about this result

For a person who dies in 2026 the basic exclusion amount is $15,000,000, and the part of the estate above it is taxed at 40%. A married couple can shelter up to $30,000,000 if the first spouse’s unused exclusion is carried over to the survivor with a timely estate tax return (portability).

Only estates worth more than the exclusion. The estate pays it before heirs receive the rest; heirs do not usually pay federal tax on what they inherit, though income tax can apply to inherited retirement accounts. Some states have their own estate or inheritance tax with much lower exemptions, and those can apply to estates well under $15,000,000.

When one spouse dies without using all of their exclusion, the unused amount can go to the surviving spouse if the executor elects it on a timely federal estate tax return, even when no tax is due. Without the election the unused exclusion is lost. On this page, choosing “Married couple, second death” assumes the election is made and the first spouse used none of theirs.

Gifts of up to $19,000 a year per recipient in 2026 use none of the exclusion. Larger gifts use it up, dollar for dollar, so they are added back into the estate here. Giving during life can still keep later growth on the gifted assets out of the estate; that growth is not modelled.

For most households it is. With $417,000 of assets after debts, an estate is $14,583,000 below the exclusion. The chart shows where tax would start, and the levers show how much charity or a second exclusion would change a larger estate.

State estate and inheritance taxes, the marital deduction at the first death, generation-skipping transfer tax, trusts, discounts on business interests and the step-up in basis. It also does not say how to structure an estate; that is a question for an estate attorney.

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