Federal estate tax only kicks in once an estate clears a large exemption — $13,610,000 per individual as of 2024, a figure that shifts with inflation most years. Our new estate tax calculator estimates what’s owed above that line in two inputs: the gross estate value, and any prior taxable gifts.
The math is a deliberate simplification: the real IRS schedule is graduated from 18% up to 40%, but once an estate exceeds the exemption by any meaningful amount, nearly all of the liability lands at the top 40% rate — so this tool applies a flat 40% to the taxable excess and says so plainly, rather than pretending to model brackets it isn’t modeling.
On a $15,000,000 estate with $500,000 in prior taxable gifts, the taxable excess is $1,890,000 and the estimated federal tax is $756,000. An estate under the exemption owes nothing.
Two things worth repeating: this is federal tax only — many states layer on their own estate or inheritance tax with a much lower threshold, so check yours separately — and this is a rough, illustrative estimate, not tax or legal advice. Any estate near or above the exemption deserves a real conversation with an estate attorney and CPA. Results update as you type, your inputs live in the link, and there’s an embeddable version for anyone who wants to drop it into their own site.