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 their death compare inheritance tax sense 1

Examples of estate tax in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The federal estate tax, which is paid by the estate rather than heirs, carries a top marginal rate of 40%, with a $15 million basic exclusion amount for people who die in 2026, according to the IRS. — Bilin Lin, Fortune, 20 Oct. 2026

Gifts below the annual exclusions won't count against your lifetime federal gift and estate tax exemptions. — Kate Dore, Cfp®, Ea, CNBC, 20 Oct. 2026

In subsequent decades, Congress enacted a series of major reductions to the estate tax. — Nicholas Lemann, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026

Preserving the family farm has been a pretext for passing ever larger exemptions to the estate tax, to the point that a married couple can now pass on $30 million to heirs tax-free. — Eric Zwick, The Atlantic, 14 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1894, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for estate tax

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

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