Estate Tax Calculator
Estimate federal estate tax on an estate's value above the current lifetime exemption amount.
- Protected by Exemption$8,000,000.00 · 100%
- Passes to Heirs (after tax)$0.00 · 0%
- Estate Tax$0.00 · 0%
The entire $8,000,000.00 estate falls under the exemption, so no federal estate tax is owed.
- Taxable Estate$0.00
Federal only — many states also levy their own estate or inheritance tax with much lower exemptions.
About the Estate Tax Calculator
'Estate tax' gets confused with 'inheritance tax' constantly, but they're not the same thing, and the federal version is far narrower than most people assume — it only applies to the portion of an estate's value above a large exemption threshold, so the overwhelming majority of estates in the US owe nothing at the federal level at all.
This calculator estimates what's owed above that exemption at the flat statutory rate, which is the number that matters for high-net-worth estate planning, or simply for understanding why the exemption threshold gets discussed so much in estate-planning conversations.
Estate values are sensitive family financial information — this runs entirely in your browser, with nothing about the estate or its value sent anywhere.
How it’s calculated
Unlike income tax, federal estate tax above the exemption is effectively a flat rate on the excess, not a set of progressive brackets — the exemption acts like a large deduction, and only the value above it is taxed, at the rate you enter (statutorily 40% above the exemption in recent years).
Frequently asked questions
Do most people's estates actually owe federal estate tax?
No — the federal exemption is set high enough that the vast majority of estates fall entirely below it and owe nothing. It typically becomes relevant only for larger estates, and the exact threshold changes periodically, so check the current figure rather than assuming last year's number still applies.
Is estate tax the same as inheritance tax?
No. Federal estate tax is levied on the estate itself before assets are distributed, based on its total value. A number of states separately levy an inheritance tax on what heirs receive, often with much lower exemptions and rates that can depend on the heir's relationship to the deceased.
Does giving gifts before death reduce estate tax?
It can, within limits — large lifetime gifts count against the same overall exemption used at death (the lifetime exemption is unified across gifts and estate), though smaller gifts under an annual per-recipient exclusion generally don't count against it at all.
Do all states follow the same estate tax exemption as the federal government?
No — a number of states levy their own separate estate or inheritance tax with exemption thresholds well below the federal one, so an estate that owes nothing federally can still owe state-level tax depending on where the deceased lived.
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