Estate Planning Tax Calculator 2025 β Gifting, Trusts & Tax Strategies
Calculate your estate tax exposure and explore planning strategies: annual gifting, charitable trusts, irrevocable trusts, and portability to minimize estate tax.
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For portability calculation $
Planning Strategies
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$19K/person/year (2025). For married couple: $38K/person/year $
100% deductible β fully reduces taxable estate $
Reduces taxable estate if properly structured $0
Estate Tax (with strategies)
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Taxable Estate
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Tax Without Planning
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Tax Saved by Planning
Estate Tax Calculation
How to Use This Estate Planning Calculator
Enter your total estate value and select strategies you plan to implement: annual gifting, charitable giving, and irrevocable trusts. The calculator shows your estate tax before and after each strategy, and the total tax saved.
The Formula
Available exemption = $13,610,000 (single) or $27,220,000 (married) β exemption used
Gross taxable estate = total estate β marital deduction β charitable deductions
Adjusted estate = gross β annual gifts (accumulated) β irrevocable trust assets
Estate tax = max(0, adjusted estate β available exemption) Γ 40%
Gross taxable estate = total estate β marital deduction β charitable deductions
Adjusted estate = gross β annual gifts (accumulated) β irrevocable trust assets
Estate tax = max(0, adjusted estate β available exemption) Γ 40%
Example
Married couple, $20M estate, married filing, 10 years of gifting:
Available exemption: $27,220,000 (married)
Annual gifting (10 yrs Γ $190K): reduces estate by $1,900,000
Taxable estate: $20M β $1.9M = $18.1M
Tax: max(0, $18.1M β $27.22M) = $0 (under exemption)
No estate tax β exemption covers the estate
Without planning at 2026 rates (~$7M exemption Γ 2): tax = max(0, $20M β $14M) Γ 40% = $2.4M
Available exemption: $27,220,000 (married)
Annual gifting (10 yrs Γ $190K): reduces estate by $1,900,000
Taxable estate: $20M β $1.9M = $18.1M
Tax: max(0, $18.1M β $27.22M) = $0 (under exemption)
No estate tax β exemption covers the estate
Without planning at 2026 rates (~$7M exemption Γ 2): tax = max(0, $20M β $14M) Γ 40% = $2.4M
Extended
Estate Reduction Roadmap
Year-by-year projection of estate size with various reduction strategies applied
Project your estate size over time with strategies applied, assuming estate growth rate.
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Estate Size Projection (with and without planning)
| Year | Without Strategies | With Annual Gifting | With All Strategies |
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the federal estate tax exemption for 2025?
The federal estate tax exemption is $13,610,000 per individual in 2025 ($27,220,000 for married couples using portability). Estates above this threshold are taxed at a flat 40% rate on the excess. This higher exemption is set to sunset after December 31, 2025 β reverting to approximately $7 million (inflation-adjusted) unless Congress acts.
What is portability of the estate tax exemption?
Portability allows a surviving spouse to "inherit" the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exemption. If your spouse dies and uses only $5 million of their $13.61 million exemption, you can add the unused $8.61 million to your own exemption. You must file an estate tax return (Form 706) within 9 months of death (or 15 months with extension) to elect portability, even if no tax is owed.
How does annual gifting reduce my estate?
You can give up to $19,000 per recipient per year (2025) completely tax-free and without using any lifetime exemption. For a married couple, that's $38,000 per recipient per year. With multiple children and grandchildren, you can remove hundreds of thousands per year from your estate. The cumulative effect over 10-20 years can significantly reduce estate tax exposure.
What is an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT)?
An ILIT is a trust that owns a life insurance policy. Since you don't own the policy (the trust does), the death benefit is excluded from your taxable estate. This is used to provide liquidity for estate taxes without adding to the estate. A $5M life insurance policy owned by an ILIT can pay estate taxes without adding $5M to your taxable estate.
How do charitable remainder trusts reduce estate taxes?
A Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT) lets you transfer appreciated assets to a trust, take an income stream for life, and pass the remainder to charity. You receive: an income tax deduction, capital gains tax avoidance on the sale of appreciated assets, and estate tax reduction since the asset leaves your estate. A Charitable Lead Trust (CLT) works in reverse β charity gets the income, family gets the remainder.