How much can you inherit without paying federal estate tax in 2026?

$15,000,000 per person, or $30,000,000 for a married couple where portability was elected. The One Big Beautiful Bill made that figure permanent and it is indexed for inflation from 2027. Below it the unified credit cancels the tax, which is why fewer than one estate in a thousand owes anything.

What is the estate tax rate?

40% on everything above the exclusion. The statute has graduated brackets below that, but the unified credit absorbs them, so any estate that actually owes tax owes it at the top rate.

Is inherited money taxable to the person receiving it?

Not as income, federally. The estate pays estate tax before anything is distributed. Six states levy a separate inheritance tax on the recipient, and inherited retirement accounts are taxed as income as they come out — which is a different calculation entirely.

What is portability and how is it lost?

A surviving spouse can add whatever exclusion their late spouse did not use to their own. It only exists if an estate tax return was filed for the first death electing it, and that return is otherwise unnecessary — so it is missed routinely, and the cost of missing it is up to $6,000,000 of tax.

Estate Tax Calculator

With gross estate 20000000 usd, debts, funeral and administration costs 500000 usd, left to charity 0 usd, left to a spouse 0 usd and 2 more fields, estate tax comes to $1,800,000 — federal estate tax. It is reached in 11 steps, the last of which is 4500000 * 0.4, and each one is printed on the page with its numbers filled in. The formula is the one published by IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32, not an approximation fitted to it.

Whether an estate owes federal tax at all, using the 2026 exclusion of $15,000,000 a person, and what the 40% rate costs on anything above it.

Formula and sources checked 31 August 2026 · How we check

Gross estate 20000000, Debts, funeral and administration costs 500000, Using a late spouse’s unused exclusion No

$1,800,000

Federal estate tax for the example below. Editing a field recomputes the calculator below; this figure holds the answer the page was loaded with.

It is written into the HTML rather than drawn by a script, so a search engine reading this page without running JavaScript still finds an answer.

Gross estateusdEverything owned at death at market value — property, investments, business interests, and life insurance you owned rather than a trust.Debts, funeral and administration costsusdLeft to charityusdDeducted in full. A charitable bequest is the one deduction with no ceiling.Left to a spouseusdThe marital deduction is unlimited for a US-citizen spouse, so anything left this way is not taxed now — it is taxed in their estate later.Taxable gifts made in lifeusdGifts above the annual exclusion, which is $19,000 per person for 2026. They come off the same exclusion the estate uses.Using a late spouse’s unused exclusionA surviving spouse can carry over whatever their late spouse did not use, but only if an estate tax return was filed to elect it.State estate or inheritance taxpercentTwelve states and DC levy one, usually with a far lower threshold than the federal exclusion.

Federal estate tax

$1,800,000

Exclusion available: $15,000,000
Deductions: 500000 + 0 + 0$500,000
Estate after deductions: max(0, 20000000 - 500000)$19,500,000
Estate plus lifetime taxable gifts: 19500000 + 0$19,500,000
Amount above the exclusion: max(0, 19500000 - 15000000)$4,500,000
Federal estate tax at 40%: 4500000 * 0.4$1,800,000
State tax, at the rate you entered: 19500000 * 0 / 100$0
Total tax: 1800000 + 0$1,800,000
What reaches the heirs: max(0, 19500000 - 1800000)$17,700,000
Tax as a share of the estate: 1800000 / 19500000 * 1009.231 %
Exclusion still unused: max(0, 15000000 - 19500000)$0

Ask about this in the chat Compare: with a late spouse’s exclusion carried over

Worked example

A $20,000,000 estate with $500,000 of debts and costs is $19,500,000. The 2026 exclusion covers all but $4,500,000, which is taxed at 40% — $1,800,000, or 9.23% of the estate — and $17,700,000 reaches the heirs.

How to work it out yourself

1.Start with everything owned at death, not just what passes through the will. Retirement accounts, jointly held property and life insurance you owned are all in the gross estate; life insurance held in an irrevocable trust is not.
2.Subtract debts, costs, anything left to charity and anything left to a US-citizen spouse. The marital deduction is unlimited, which is why most married couples owe nothing on the first death and everything is decided on the second.
3.Add back the taxable gifts made in life. The exclusion is a single lifetime allowance, and gifts above $19,000 per person a year draw it down.
4.Only the amount above the exclusion is taxed, and it is taxed at 40%. Below it, the unified credit cancels the tax entirely — which is why 99.9% of estates file nothing at all.

Federal tax by size of estate

Federal tax by size of estate
Gross estate (usd)	Federal estate tax	Amount above the exclusion	What reaches the heirs
10000000	$0	$0	$9,500,000
15000000	$0	$0	$14,500,000
16000000	$200,000	$500,000	$15,300,000
20000000	$1,800,000	$4,500,000	$17,700,000
25000000	$3,800,000	$9,500,000	$20,700,000
30000000	$5,800,000	$14,500,000	$23,700,000
50000000	$13,800,000	$34,500,000	$35,700,000

After $500,000 of debts and costs, with one exclusion and no portability.

The formula

Exclusion available
Deductions500000 + 0 + 0
Estate after deductionsmax(0, 20000000 - 500000)
Estate plus lifetime taxable gifts19500000 + 0
Amount above the exclusionmax(0, 19500000 - 15000000)
Federal estate tax at 40%4500000 * 0.4
State tax, at the rate you entered19500000 * 0 / 100
Total tax1800000 + 0
What reaches the heirsmax(0, 19500000 - 1800000)
Tax as a share of the estate1800000 / 19500000 * 100
Exclusion still unusedmax(0, 15000000 - 19500000)

Source: IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 — basic exclusion amount $15,000,000 for 2026, annual gift exclusion $19,000, IRS — Estate tax, IRS — Frequently asked questions on estate taxes

Questions people actually ask

How much can you inherit without paying federal estate tax in 2026?: $15,000,000 per person, or $30,000,000 for a married couple where portability was elected. The One Big Beautiful Bill made that figure permanent and it is indexed for inflation from 2027. Below it the unified credit cancels the tax, which is why fewer than one estate in a thousand owes anything.
What is the estate tax rate?: 40% on everything above the exclusion. The statute has graduated brackets below that, but the unified credit absorbs them, so any estate that actually owes tax owes it at the top rate.
Is inherited money taxable to the person receiving it?: Not as income, federally. The estate pays estate tax before anything is distributed. Six states levy a separate inheritance tax on the recipient, and inherited retirement accounts are taxed as income as they come out — which is a different calculation entirely.
What is portability and how is it lost?: A surviving spouse can add whatever exclusion their late spouse did not use to their own. It only exists if an estate tax return was filed for the first death electing it, and that return is otherwise unnecessary — so it is missed routinely, and the cost of missing it is up to $6,000,000 of tax.

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