Estate Tax Calculator

This calculator estimates the federal estate tax owed on an estate using the mechanism set out in IRC Section 2001: a tentative tax is computed on the ENTIRE taxable estate (Gross Estate minus Deductions, plus any Prior Taxable Gifts) using the graduated §2001(c) schedule that climbs from 18% to a top marginal rate of 40%, and then the unified credit -- the tentative tax that would apply to the Exemption Amount itself -- is subtracted from that figure. Because the exemption is far above the schedule's top-bracket threshold, this credit fully absorbs every graduated bracket below 40%, so in practice every dollar of taxable estate above the exemption is taxed at a flat 40%, not at the lower 18%-39% rates -- those rates only describe how tax accrues below the exemption, which the credit cancels out entirely. Prior Taxable Gifts are added back into the base the tentative tax is computed on because the federal exemption is a single unified lifetime-plus-death allowance, so exemption already used on lifetime gifts is not available again at death.

The calculator applies a federal exemption threshold below which no estate tax is owed at all; this calculator's default reflects $15,000,000 as of 2026, but the real statutory figure is set by Congress, adjusted annually for inflation, and has swung materially over the past decade, so always confirm the current-year number before relying on this for real planning. Net to Heirs subtracts both deductions and the computed estate tax from the gross estate, giving a rough after-tax estimate of what passes to beneficiaries. This tool does not model spousal portability, state- level estate or inheritance taxes (many states impose their own, often with far lower exemptions than the federal one), generation-skipping transfer tax, or the step-up in basis heirs receive on inherited assets -- it is a simplified federal estate-tax estimate only, not a substitute for advice from an estate planning attorney or CPA.