Free 2025 estate tax calculator. Estimate federal estate tax with the $13.99M exemption, graduated 18-40% rates, portability election, and taxable estate breakdown.
The Estate Tax Calculator estimates the federal estate tax that may apply when assets are transferred after death. For 2025, the lifetime exemption is approximately $13.99 million per individual ($27.98 million for married couples using portability).
The federal estate tax uses graduated rates from 18% to 40%, but the unified credit effectively zeroes out tax on the first $13.99 million. Estates above this threshold face a marginal rate of 40% on the excess.
Enter the gross estate value, deductions, and prior gifts to see whether your estate would owe federal estate tax and how much. While the federal exemption is currently set at $13.61 million per individual, this amount is scheduled to drop by roughly half after 2025 when the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions sunset. Estates well below the current threshold may need planning for the reduced exemption. This calculator also illustrates how the unlimited marital deduction, charitable deductions, and the portability of unused exemption between spouses can significantly reduce or eliminate estate tax liability.
Estate tax planning can save families millions of dollars. This calculator helps you estimate whether your estate will exceed the exemption, how much tax might be owed, and how portability between spouses can be leveraged. It's essential for high-net-worth individuals and estate planning attorneys. Proper planning with the current high exemption can protect millions from future taxation.
Taxable Estate = Gross Estate − Deductions Tentative Tax = Graduated rates on (Taxable Estate + Adjusted Taxable Gifts) Estate Tax = Max(0, Tentative Tax − Unified Credit − Gift Tax Paid) Unified Credit (2025) ≈ $5,389,800 (exempts ~$13.99M)
Result: Estimated estate tax: $2,204,000
Gross estate $20M minus $1M deductions = $19M taxable estate. Adding $500K prior gifts gives $19.5M for tentative tax. Tax at graduated rates minus unified credit of ~$5.39M leaves approximately $2.2M in estate tax due. The effective rate is about 11.6% of the taxable estate.
The estate and gift tax share a single unified credit. This means any taxable gifts you make during your lifetime reduce the exemption available at death. For 2025, the unified credit is approximately $5,389,800, which shelters about $13.99 million from combined estate and gift taxes.
Common strategies include irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs), grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), charitable remainder trusts (CRTs), and family limited partnerships. Each reduces the taxable estate in different ways — by removing assets, discounting values, or leveraging exemptions.
With the TCJA's doubled exemption expiring after 2025, many families are accelerating wealth transfers to lock in the higher exemption. Gifts made before the sunset are protected by an IRS anti-clawback rule that ensures you won't be penalized if the exemption drops.
The federal estate tax exemption for 2025 is approximately $13.99 million per individual. This means estates valued at less than $13.99 million (after deductions) owe no federal estate tax. Married couples can combine exemptions for up to $27.98 million using portability.
Federal estate tax rates are graduated from 18% on the first $10,000 of taxable amount to 40% on amounts over $1 million. However, the unified credit effectively zeroes out tax on the first ~$13.99 million, so the marginal rate on taxable estates above the exemption is 40%.
Portability allows a surviving spouse to add the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exemption to their own. This effectively gives a married couple a combined ~$27.98M exemption. It requires filing IRS Form 706 after the first spouse's death, even if no tax is owed.
No. As of 2025, about 12 states and DC impose their own estate taxes, often with much lower exemptions ($1M to $7.1M depending on the state). Some states also have inheritance taxes, which are paid by the recipient rather than the estate.
Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the doubled exemption is set to sunset after December 31, 2025. Unless Congress extends the provision, the exemption could revert to approximately $7 million (indexed for inflation). Estate planning before the sunset is critical for high-net-worth families.
Taxable lifetime gifts (above the annual exclusion) reduce your available estate tax exemption. They are added back to the estate for calculating tentative tax, with credit for any gift tax paid. The unified credit system ensures you can't use the exemption twice.