Estate Tax Exemption Calculator

The federal estate tax reaches very few estates, and in 2026 it reaches fewer than it nearly did. The exemption that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act had scheduled to fall by roughly half at the end of 2025 was instead raised and made permanent: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act set the basic exclusion amount at $15 million per person and struck the expiration date from the statute. This tool applies that figure to your estate.

The estimate applies the 2026 individual exemption of $15 million against a top federal estate tax rate of 40%. For 2026 that $15 million is the flat figure written into IRC section 2010(c)(3); inflation indexing starts with people who die in 2027 and later, measured from a 2025 base, so the only scheduled movement is upward. Married couples get the benefit of portability, which lets a surviving spouse carry over any unused portion of the deceased spouse's exemption. Mechanically, the applicable exemption or exemptions are subtracted from the gross estate value, and the rate is applied only to whatever taxable amount remains.

Because state estate taxes vary widely and aren't reflected here, treat the output as an estimate rather than a final number. Portability is easy to lose by accident: the election has to be made on the estate's return for the surviving spouse to claim the unused exemption, so it's worth confirming your plan provides for it. For decisions this consequential, a qualified estate planning attorney or financial advisor should weigh in on your specific situation.