Estate Tax Threshold

Question: How valuable must an individual’s estate be at death for the federal estate taxes to apply in 2020?

Answer: $11.58 million.

As with other federal estate taxes, the estate tax is collected only above certain thresholds. If your estate is valued below the threshold amount, then you won’t be hit with any federal estate tax. However, there are 12 states and the District of Columbia that charge their own estate tax, among which Washington has the highest estate tax rate of any state in the nation—20 percent. More than that, six states charge an additional inheritance tax with Maryland probably being the costliest state in which to die, imposing imposes both an estate tax and an inheritance tax.

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