What is the 2025 federal estate tax exemption?

The 2025 basic exclusion amount is $13.99 million per person. Only the portion of a taxable estate above that figure is subject to federal estate tax. A married couple can shield roughly double using portability of the unused exemption.

What rate applies above the exemption?

The top federal estate tax rate is a flat 40%. While the statutory table has lower brackets below $1 million, those are absorbed by the exemption, so any estate large enough to owe tax pays the 40% marginal rate on the excess.

What is the 2026 estate tax sunset?

Under current law the elevated exemption is scheduled to roughly halve on 1 January 2026, falling to about $7 million after inflation indexing, unless Congress extends it. That would pull many more estates into taxable territory.

Does transferring assets to my spouse avoid the tax?

Transfers to a US-citizen spouse qualify for the unlimited marital deduction, so no estate tax is due on them at the first death. The assets are instead taxed in the surviving spouse's estate, though portability can preserve the first spouse's exemption.

Does this include state estate or inheritance taxes?

No. Several states levy their own estate or inheritance taxes with much lower thresholds than the federal exemption. This calculator covers only the federal estate tax — check your state's rules separately.

US Federal Estate Tax Calculator

The US Federal Estate Tax Calculator estimates the federal tax due on a deceased person’s estate using the 2025 rules: a $13.99 million exemption and a 40% flat rate on everything above it. It is built for estate planners, executors and high-net-worth families who want a quick, private sense of the potential liability before consulting an attorney — and a clear view of how the looming 2026 sunset could change the picture.

How it works

The calculation starts with the gross estate — the fair-market value of all property the decedent owned or controlled, including real estate, investments, business interests and policy proceeds. From that the tool subtracts allowable deductions: debts, funeral and administration expenses, charitable bequests, and any transfer to a US-citizen spouse (the unlimited marital deduction). The result is the taxable estate.

The tool then applies the exemption. Lifetime taxable gifts use up the exemption first, so any prior gifts you enter reduce the amount of exemption left at death. The tax is:

tax = max(0, taxable estate − remaining exemption) × 40%

Because the lower statutory brackets fall below the exemption, the marginal rate on a taxable estate is effectively the flat 40%.

Notes and the 2026 sunset

The headline risk for planners is timing. Under current law the exemption is scheduled to drop from about $13.99M to roughly $7M on 1 January 2026. An estate of $10M owes nothing in 2025 but could owe around $1.2M in 2026 if the law isn’t extended. This calculator covers the federal tax only — many states impose their own estate or inheritance taxes at far lower thresholds, and generation-skipping transfer tax may also apply. Treat the result as a planning estimate, not legal or tax advice.