Estate Tax Exposure Calculator: Federal + State Exposure at Death
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Most US estates owe zero: the 2026 federal exemption is $15M per person ($30M for a married couple via portability), now permanent. Above that, 40%. Twelve states + DC tax far smaller estates, starting at $1M in Oregon. Plug in your gross estate and see federal + state exposure and what your heirs actually receive.
Federal is rare. State is the more common exposure.
At a $15M-per-person federal exemption (effectively $30M for married couples via portability), the federal estate tax hits a tiny fraction of estates. IRS data shows fewer than 5,000 federal estate-tax returns owe tax in a typical year, out of ~3 million annual deaths, and that was with the lower $13.99M exemption of 2025.
State exposure is where most planning attention should go. These are the 2026 figures from the Tax Foundation’s state table (as of October 1, 2026):
| State | 2026 exemption | Rates |
|---|---|---|
| Oregon | $1,000,000 | 10%-16% |
| Rhode Island | $1,838,056 | 0.8%-16% |
| Massachusetts | $2,000,000 | 0.8%-16% |
| Minnesota | $3,000,000 | 13%-16% |
| Washington | $3,000,000 | 10%-20% |
| Illinois | $4,000,000 | 0.8%-16% |
| District of Columbia | $4,988,400 | 11.2%-16% |
| Maryland | $5,000,000 | 0.8%-16% |
| Vermont | $5,000,000 | 16% |
| Hawaii | $5,490,000 | 10%-20% |
| Maine | $7,160,000 | 8%-12% |
| New York | $7,350,000 | 3.06%-16% |
| Connecticut | $15,000,000 | 12% |
We ran a married Oregon couple with a $3M estate (house plus 401(k)s) through the calculator: no federal tax, and $2M above the state line, which at Oregon’s 16% top rate is at most $320,000. Washington changed twice in a year: the exemption rose to $3M with a 35% top rate in July 2025, then the top rate went back to 20% from July 1, 2026. Five other states (Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, Pennsylvania) have an inheritance tax instead, paid by the heirs based on their relationship to the deceased; Iowa’s ended for deaths from 2025. Maryland is the only state with both.
How the math works
- Federal exemption = $15,000,000 × (1 if single, 2 if MFJ via portability) − lifetime taxable gifts already counted against the unified exemption.
- Federal taxable estate = max(0, gross estate − federal exemption).
- Federal estate tax = taxable × 40%. (The actual brackets are progressive 18-40%, but the unified credit shelters everything below the exemption — exposed dollars hit the 40% rate within rounding.)
- State estate tax = max(0, gross − state exemption) × the state rate you enter. Most states are graduated, so the top rate gives an upper bound.
- Heirs receive = gross − total tax.
Sources: IRS Pub 559 (Survivors, Executors, and Administrators), Pub 950 (Estate and Gift Taxes Intro), Rev. Proc. 2025-32 for the 2026 exemption (set by OBBBA §70106, indexed for inflation from 2027), IRC §2010 for the unified credit. State figures: Tax Foundation, Estate and Inheritance Taxes by State, 2026; check your state’s department of revenue before filing.
Math runs locally. Inputs never leave your browser. Source on github.
Where this calculation doesn’t apply
- Inheritance-tax states. IA, KY, MD, NE, NJ, PA tax the heirs based on relationship to the deceased (spouses usually 0%, distant relatives or non-relatives up to 15-18%). Use the state exposure here as a rough proxy — the actual calc varies by heir.
- Assets in irrevocable trusts. Properly-structured ILITs, GRATs, IDGTs, and similar vehicles remove assets from the taxable estate. The “gross estate” input should EXCLUDE these — they’re separately not in the calculation.
- Charitable bequests. Charitable transfers at death are fully deductible from the estate. Subtract any planned charitable bequest from the gross-estate input.
- Graduated state rates and cliffs. Massachusetts, Illinois and Rhode Island start at 0.8%, so an estate just over the line owes far less than the top rate suggests. New York goes the other way: once the taxable estate passes 105% of the exemption, the whole estate is taxed, not just the excess. Use the top rate here as a ceiling and get the exact figure from your state’s table.
- Future exemptions. The $15M is permanent and indexed for inflation from 2027, but Congress can still change it. A long planning horizon is a reason to revisit the number every few years, not to plan around a halving that was cancelled.
- Generation-skipping transfers. GSTT can add an additional 40% layer on transfers to grandchildren or other “skip persons” above the GST exemption. Not modeled here.
What to actually do
- Get a real number. Add up everything you own outright + retirement accounts + life insurance (with you as owner) + business interests + real estate market value, minus debts.
- Check your state’s estate-tax exemption and top rate. If you’re above the state exemption, the state tax is usually larger than any federal exposure.
- If exposed at either level, consider: annual exclusion gifting (see related tool), step-up basis hold strategies (see related tool), and life insurance to fund estate-tax liquidity (also related).
- For estates clearly above the federal exemption, talk to an estate-planning attorney about irrevocable trust structures — the savings on a single ILIT or GRAT pay the lawyer many times over.
- Recheck the federal and state numbers each year. State exemptions move more often than the federal one: Washington changed twice between July 2025 and July 2026.