Estate Tax Calculator

Estate Tax Calculator

Calculate federal estate tax on wealth transfers at death. Most estates pay no tax due to the generous exemption, but large estates face rates up to 40%.

2024 Estate Tax Exemption

Filing Status	Exemption
Individual	$13.61 million
Married (portability)	$27.22 million

Estates below these thresholds owe no federal estate tax.

Estate Tax Rates

Taxable Estate	Rate
$0 - $10,000	18%
$10,001 - $20,000	20%
$20,001 - $40,000	22%
...	...
Over $1,000,000	40%

*After exemption, rates start at 18% and quickly reach 40%

Estate Tax Calculation

``javascript function calculateEstateTax(grossEstate, deductions = 0) { const exemption = 13610000; // 2024 const taxableEstate = Math.max(0, grossEstate - deductions - exemption);

// Simplified: flat 40% on amounts over exemption const estateTax = taxableEstate * 0.40;

return { grossEstate, exemption, taxableEstate, estateTax, effectiveRate: (estateTax / grossEstate * 100).toFixed(2) + '%' }; } ``

Planning Strategies

Strategy	Purpose
Lifetime gifts	Use annual exclusion ($18k/person)
Irrevocable trusts	Remove assets from estate
Charitable giving	Reduce taxable estate
Life insurance trusts	Exclude policy from estate

How Federal Income Tax Actually Works

Brackets are marginal. Moving into a higher bracket does not tax your whole income at the higher rate — only the part above the threshold. "A raise pushed me into a higher bracket so I take home less" is arithmetically impossible under a marginal system.

On $100,000 of taxable income, filing single (2024 brackets):

Bracket	Income taxed here	Tax
10%	$0–$11,600	$1,160
12%	$11,600–$47,150	$4,266
22%	$47,150–$100,000	$11,627
Total		$17,053

That is a 17.1% *effective* rate against a 22% *marginal* rate. The marginal rate tells you what the next dollar costs; the effective rate tells you what you actually paid. Financial decisions use the marginal rate, budgeting uses the effective one.

A Note on These Figures

Brackets, thresholds and the standard deduction shown here are for tax year 2024, filed in 2025, and they are indexed to inflation every year. State tax is not included and ranges from nothing at all (Florida, Texas, Washington and six others) to 13.3% in California.

This is an estimate, not tax advice. Anything involving equity compensation, multiple states, self-employment or a life change is worth an hour of a professional's time.

Worked Through the Brackets

On $75,000 of gross income, filing single, taking the $14,600 standard deduction — so $60,400 of taxable income:

Bracket	Range	Income taxed here	Tax
10%	$0 – $11,600	$11,600	$1,160
12%	$11,600 – $47,150	$35,550	$4,266
22%	$47,150 – $100,525	$13,250	$2,915
Total			$8,341

That is a 11.1% effective rate against a 22% marginal rate. The two answer different questions: the marginal rate is what the next dollar costs, and it is the one that decides whether a 401(k) contribution or an extra shift is worth it. The effective rate is what you actually paid, and it is the one to budget against.

The Same Income, Different Sources

Source	Federal tax on it
Wages (above)	$8,341
Self-employment profit	$8,341 income tax plus $10,597 SE tax
Long-term capital gain of $10,000	$1,500 at 15%

Where income comes from changes the bill more than how much of it there is. A self-employed filer at this level pays roughly $10,597 that an employee never sees, because there is no employer paying the other half of FICA.