US Federal Estate Tax Calculator

The federal estate tax is a tax on the transfer of a person's assets at death. It is charged on the value of the taxable estate above the basic exclusion amount, at rates up to 40%. It is paid by the estate (reported on Form 706) before assets pass to heirs, and only a small fraction of estates ever owe it because the exemption is so high.

$15,000,000 per person for 2026. The One, Big, Beautiful Bill, signed into law on 4 July 2025, set this figure and made the higher exemption permanent, indexing it for inflation in later years. A married couple can shelter up to $30,000,000 using both exemptions and portability.

40%. Although the estate tax technically uses a graduated rate table, the unified credit absorbs the tax on everything up to the exemption, so in practice any value above the $15,000,000 exemption is taxed at the 40% top rate. This calculator applies 40% to the amount over the exemption.

Estates of US citizens and domiciliaries with a taxable estate (plus lifetime taxable gifts) above the exemption. Because the 2026 exemption is $15,000,000, very few estates owe the tax. Non-US citizens who are not US-domiciled face a much smaller $60,000 exemption on their US-situated assets, which is a separate calculation.

Start with the gross estate — the fair market value of all assets at death, worldwide for a US citizen. Then subtract deductions: debts, funeral and administration costs, mortgages, and transfers to a US-citizen spouse or to charity. The result is the taxable estate, to which lifetime taxable gifts are added to find the tax base.

Real estate, bank and investment accounts, business interests, retirement accounts, and the death benefit of life insurance policies you own or control, among other assets. For a US citizen it includes worldwide assets, not just US-situated ones. Correctly valuing and including everything is the main work behind Form 706.

The US has a unified gift and estate tax system, so taxable gifts made during life use up part of the same $15,000,000 exemption. Those adjusted taxable gifts are added back when computing the estate tax, so the exemption available at death is reduced by what you already used. This calculator lets you enter the exemption already used.

$19,000 per recipient for 2026. Gifts within the annual exclusion do not use any lifetime exemption and are not reported. Only gifts above the annual exclusion reduce your unified exemption. Gifts to a non-US-citizen spouse have a separate, larger annual exclusion of $194,000 for 2026.

Yes, but with a catch. Transfers to a surviving spouse are generally free of estate tax under the unlimited marital deduction — but only if the surviving spouse is a US citizen. Where the spouse is not a US citizen, a Qualified Domestic Trust (QDOT) is usually needed to defer the tax, which is a common issue in cross-border marriages.

Portability lets a surviving spouse use the unused exemption of a deceased spouse (the 'DSUE amount'), potentially giving a couple up to $30,000,000 of combined exemption. It must be elected on a timely Form 706 for the first spouse to die. This calculator models one person's exemption; add DSUE separately if it applies.

A person who is not a US citizen or domiciliary is subject to US estate tax on their US-situated assets — such as US real estate and shares in US corporations — but receives an exemption equivalent to only $60,000, not $15,000,000. The US–UK estate tax treaty can improve this, so structuring and treaty claims matter for anyone holding US assets.

There is a dedicated US–UK estate, gift and generation-skipping tax treaty, separate from the income tax treaty. It allocates taxing rights between the two countries and requires each to give credit for tax paid to the other, so the same asset is not fully taxed twice on death. Relief is claimed with professional support, not applied automatically.

Yes — US citizens are subject to estate tax on their worldwide estate wherever they live. However, with the $15,000,000 exemption, most Americans in the UK owe no US estate tax; their bigger exposure is usually UK inheritance tax, which starts at a far lower threshold. Cross-border families should model both.

The death benefit of a policy you own or have 'incidents of ownership' in is included in your gross estate, which can push a family over the exemption. Holding life insurance in an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) can keep the proceeds outside your taxable estate — a common planning technique for larger estates.

Form 706, the United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, filed by the executor. It is generally due nine months after death, with a six-month extension available. Even estates below the exemption sometimes file Form 706 to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exemption.

Some US states levy their own estate or inheritance tax, often with much lower exemptions than the federal $15,000,000. This calculator estimates only federal estate tax. If the deceased was connected to a state with its own death tax, that liability is calculated separately and can apply even when no federal tax is due.

Common tools include using both spouses' exemptions and portability, annual exclusion gifting, irrevocable trusts (including ILITs and grantor trusts), charitable bequests, and valuation planning for business interests. For cross-border families, coordinating US and UK positions under the estate tax treaty is essential. Planning is most effective when done well before death.

It can change with legislation. The 2026 $15,000,000 figure was made permanent by the 2025 law and is indexed for inflation, but future Congresses can amend it. Because large lifetime gifts made under a high exemption are generally protected even if the exemption later falls, some families gift proactively while the exemption is high.

It applies the 2026 $15,000,000 exemption and 40% top rate to your taxable estate plus lifetime gifts, which is accurate for a straightforward US-citizen estate. It does not model state death taxes, DSUE portability, generation-skipping tax, QDOTs, or treaty adjustments, so treat the result as a planning estimate rather than a filed figure.

The calculation runs entirely in your browser and nothing is stored unless you choose to download the branded PDF report, at which point you provide your name and email so we can send it. Phone and address are optional.

If you have assets or family in both the US and UK, yes — the interaction of US estate tax, UK inheritance tax and the estate tax treaty is exactly where mistakes are costly. Book a free 20-minute call with a TaxStone specialist to map your exposure and plan around it.