estate tax

noun

Definition of estate tax

: 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 Two notable pieces in the tax crosshairs are the maximum tax rate on ordinary income, going from 37% to 39.6% and the estate tax exclusion dropping from $11.7 million to $5.85 million. — Leon Labrecque, Forbes, 18 May 2021 For 2021, an individual can leave up to $11.7 million to heirs or $23.4 million for a married couple before the estate tax kicks in. — Laura Davison, Fortune, 28 Apr. 2021 Statistically, few inheritances will get hit with the estate tax this year. — David Rae, Forbes, 18 May 2021 Biden administration officials have indicated this week that the president plans to eliminate the step-up loophole in the estate tax. — Stephen Gandel, CBS News, 29 Apr. 2021 Those include higher payroll taxes on people making more than $400,000, the repeal of the 20% deduction for pass-through business income for top earners and changes to the estate tax. — Richard Rubin, WSJ, 28 Apr. 2021 President Joe Biden and his economic team are planning to forgo an expansion of the estate tax in the administration’s coming individual tax-hike proposals, according to people briefed on the plan. — Laura Davison, Fortune, 28 Apr. 2021 Biden is also likely to propose increases on the number of Americans subjected to the estate tax. — BostonGlobe.com, 26 Apr. 2021 Bain also lamented the elimination of the estate tax in 2012, a year in which Pepper Pike received about $3.6 million in estate taxes. — cleveland, 25 Apr. 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'estate tax.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

8 Jun 2021

Cite this Entry

“Estate tax.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/estate%20tax. Accessed 17 Jun. 2021.

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More Definitions for estate tax

estate tax

noun

English Language Learners Definition of estate tax

: a tax that you pay on the money and other property that comes to you because someone has died : a tax on an estate that you inherit

See the full definition for estate tax in the English Language Learners Dictionary

estate tax

noun

Legal Definition of estate tax

: 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