GlenCalc

Estate tax calculator

Enter the estate’s value, its debts and deductions, and lifetime gifts above the annual exclusion. Most estates owe no federal estate tax: the 2026 basic exclusion is $15,000,000.00 per person. Federal figures for tax year 2026 from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32, checked 2026-10-31.

Everything owned at death, including life insurance the person owned and retirement accounts.

Fully deductible (the marital deduction).

Gifts above the annual exclusion ($19,000.00 per recipient in 2026).

Only if it was claimed on the late spouse’s estate tax return.

Your answer

Federal estate tax$880,000.00
Taxable estate$17,200,000.00
Tax base (with lifetime gifts)$17,200,000.00
Exclusion available$15,000,000.00
Amount above the exclusion$2,200,000.00
  • About a dozen states and Washington, D.C. have their own estate or inheritance taxes with much lower thresholds; they are not included. Gift tax already paid is not credited here.

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How we worked it out

Updated as you change the numbers.

  1. Taxable estate = gross estate − debts and costs − marital and charitable deductions.
  2. Tax = schedule tax on (taxable estate + lifetime taxable gifts) − schedule tax on the exclusion (the unified credit). Above the exclusion the rate is 40%.

Method and assumptions

The tax uses the unified rate schedule in 26 U.S.C. § 2001(c) (18% up to 40%) on the estate plus lifetime taxable gifts, less the credit for the $15,000,000.00 basic exclusion amount (Rev. Proc. 2025-32) plus any deceased spouse’s unused exclusion. Because the exclusion is far above $1 million, every taxed dollar is taxed at 40%.

Questions

How much estate tax on an $18 million estate in 2026?

With $300,000 of debts and costs and $500,000 to charity, the taxable estate is $17.2 million: $2.2 million over the exclusion, for about $880,000 of tax.

Sources

Method and figures checked on . Every worked answer on this page is covered by an automated test. Found a mistake? Tell us.

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