estate tax

noun

: a tax in the form of a percentage of the taxable estate that is imposed on a property owner's right to transfer the property to others after his or her death compare inheritance tax sense 1

Examples of estate tax in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Internal Revenue Code Section 2040 governs how joint ownership of property with right of survivorship is treated for federal estate tax purposes. —Virginia La Torre Jeker, J.d., Forbes.com, 7 Apr. 2025

Florida, with its lack of a state estate tax or state income tax, presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to keep wealth and business ownership thriving here. —Robert F. Mancuso, Sun Sentinel, 31 Mar. 2025

The provisions would cost $3.6 trillion through 2034, including $1.8 trillion for individual income and estate tax cuts for those earning more than $400,000 annually and $900 billion in new tax cuts that are expected to go to corporations. —Katharina Buchholz, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2025

When values are low and expected to rebound, the long-term appreciation can pass to heirs with little or no estate tax. —Matthew F. Erskine, Forbes.com, 7 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1928, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for estate tax

• anticlimax
• counterattacks
• hemothorax
• mesothorax
• metathorax
• pneumothorax
• almanacs
• carrybacks
• haversacks
• lumberjacks
• maniacs
• microcracks

Legal Definition

estate tax

noun

: an excise in the form of a percentage of the taxable estate that is imposed on a property owner's right to transfer the property to others after his or her death

called also succession tax

see also unified transfer tax compare gift tax, inheritance tax