Inheritance tax calculator
Estimate federal and state estate tax, state inheritance tax, and what each heir keeps.
Figures are for the 2026 tax year.
Estate
Marital status
Heirs
The estate is split equally after estate taxes are paid.
Gifts and portability
Lifetime gifts above the $19,000 annual exclusion per recipient use up the federal exemption.
Portability lets a surviving spouse add whatever exemption the first spouse did not use.
Results
Net to each heir
$8,850,000
- Federal estate tax
- $1,800,000
- Total death taxes
- $1,800,000
- Effective rate on the gross estate
- 9.0%
California has no estate or inheritance tax.
Breakdown
- Gross estate
- $20,000,000
- Less debts, expenses, and charitable gifts
- $500,000
- Taxable estate
- $19,500,000
- Federal exemption
- $15,000,000
- Federal taxable amount
- $4,500,000
- Share per heir before inheritance tax
- $8,850,000
Estimate only. Uses 2026 federal figures and each state's 2026 estate and inheritance tax tables.
How estate tax works
The federal estate tax is charged on what you own at death, after debts, funeral and administration costs, and anything left to a spouse or charity. For deaths in 2026 the first $15,000,000 is exempt, and the rate above that is 40%. The exemption is indexed for inflation from 2027. Taxable gifts made during life, meaning anything over the $19,000 annual exclusion per recipient, use up part of the exemption. A surviving spouse can add whatever exemption the first spouse did not use (portability), so a couple can pass on $30,000,000 with no federal tax.
Twelve states and the District of Columbia have their own estate tax, with exemptions from $1,000,000 in Oregon to $15,000,000 in Connecticut. Kentucky, Nebraska, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania tax the heir instead, at rates that depend on the heir's relationship to the person who died. Maryland does both. Spouses are exempt everywhere.
Example: $17,000,000 estate, single, no prior gifts, in a state with no estate tax. $2,000,000 is above the exemption, so the federal tax is $800,000.