Question 1

Does Arkansas have an estate tax?

Accepted Answer

The calculator treats Arkansas estate tax as $0. Its programmed rules also show Arkansas inheritance tax and gift tax as $0. However, an Arkansas estate can still have federal estate tax or federal GST tax. The calculator therefore separates the $0 Arkansas amount from any federal transfer tax produced by its formulas.

Question 2

How does the Arkansas Estate Tax Calculator determine taxable estate?

Accepted Answer

It adds the entered asset categories, then subtracts debts, funeral costs, calculated administration costs, and losses to produce the net estate. It next subtracts any allowed marital deduction, charitable deduction, and annual-exclusion gifting reduction. The result cannot fall below $0 and becomes the calculator's taxable estate.

Question 3

What federal estate tax exemption does the calculator use?

Accepted Answer

The calculator uses a basic exclusion of $13,610,000 for 2024, $13,990,000 for 2025, and $15,000,000 for 2026. It then adds any DSUE amount entered for federal portability. Earlier taxable gifts are added to the taxable estate when the calculator builds the federal tax base used for comparison.

Question 4

How does DSUE affect the estate tax calculation?

Accepted Answer

DSUE increases the applicable federal exclusion in this calculator. The entered DSUE amount is added directly to the basic exclusion for the selected year. The tool describes portability as requiring a timely federal Form 706 election, but it does not determine whether a particular DSUE amount is legally available or properly elected.

Question 5

How does the calculator estimate years of gifting?

Accepted Answer

Gifting mode calculates the effective annual gift per donee as the smaller of the entered gift and the programmed annual exclusion. It multiplies that amount by the number of donees and searches for the number of years needed to reduce calculated transfer tax to zero, subject to the maximum-year limit entered.