Pennsylvania Estate Tax Calculator

Pri Geens

Pri Geens

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Pennsylvania Estate Tax Calculator

Estimate the federal estate tax and Pennsylvania inheritance tax on a Pennsylvania decedent’s estate. Pennsylvania has no estate tax (repealed for deaths on or after January 1, 2005), but it is one of the few states with an inheritance tax: spouse and charities pay 0%, lineal heirs pay 4.5%, siblings pay 12%, and all others pay 15% (Form REV-1500, due 9 months after death). Three modes: estimate the tax, test a larger estate, or solve for the years of gifting needed to reach zero. Fields marked * are required; Calculate names any left empty.

Pennsylvania rules this calculator enforces: NO state estate tax for deaths on or after January 1, 2005 (PA estate tax was a pick-up tied to the federal state death tax credit under IRC 2011, which was eliminated; VERIFY exact effective date), so no PA estate tax return is filed; no gift tax; YES inheritance tax (72 P.S. 9101 et seq., Form REV-1500 due 9 months after death) imposed on transfers to beneficiaries by class — spouse and charities 0%, lineal ascendants/descendants 4.5%, siblings 12%, all others 15% (life insurance to a named beneficiary is exempt; VERIFY); common-law (equitable distribution) state, not community property; spousal elective share of one-third of the elective (augmented) estate (20 Pa.C.S. 2203; VERIFY), modeled on the net estate; simplified administration where the estate (excluding real estate) is $50,000 or less (20 Pa.C.S. 3101; VERIFY); probate venue in the Register of Wills / Orphans’ Court Division of the Court of Common Pleas of the county of domicile (67 counties).
Federal: unified estate and gift schedule topping at 40%; basic exclusion $13,610,000 (2024), $13,990,000 (2025), $15,000,000 (2026); federal portability (DSUE) allowed; unlimited marital and charitable deductions; GST 40%.
Sets the federal exclusion and annual gift exclusion. PA estate tax is $0 for all three years; PA inheritance tax still applies.
Register of Wills / Orphans’ Court venue; the inheritance tax is state-wide.Required. Please choose a Pennsylvania county.
Select a county to see the Register of Wills / Orphans’ Court venue, the small-estate threshold, and the federal exclusion for the selected year.

Assets at date of death

Home, land, rental buildings at fair market value (excluded from the small-estate test).Enter 0 or a positive amount.
Checking, savings, CDs, stocks, bonds, mutual funds.Enter 0 or a positive amount.
IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, pensions, annuity contracts.Enter 0 or a positive amount.
Death benefit includible when the decedent held any incident of ownership; to a named beneficiary it is exempt from PA inheritance tax.Enter 0 or a positive amount.
Closely held business, vehicles, equipment, receivables, trusts includible in the estate.Enter 0 or a positive amount.
Pennsylvania is a common-law (equitable distribution) state, not community property, so no community-property halving or double step-up applies.

Debts and administration costs

Deductible obligations of the decedent.Enter 0 or a positive amount.
Deductible when paid by the estate.Enter 0 or a positive amount.
Deductible administration expense.Enter a percentage between 0 and 25.
Filing fees, publication, appraisal costs.Enter 0 or a positive amount.
Deductible if not compensated by insurance.Enter 0 or a positive amount.

Bequests, marital status and inheritance-tax classes

Unlimited federal marital deduction; 0% PA inheritance tax.Enter 0 or a positive amount.
Unlimited federal deduction; 0% PA inheritance tax.Enter 0 or a positive amount.
Parents, children, stepchildren, grandchildren, great-grandchildren. Exclude life insurance to a named beneficiary (exempt).Enter 0 or a positive amount.
Brothers and sisters of the decedent.Enter 0 or a positive amount.
Nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, businesses, other entities.Enter 0 or a positive amount.

Prior gifts, portability and GST

Post-1976 taxable gifts; they consume the federal exclusion. Pennsylvania has no gift tax.Enter 0 or a positive amount.
Federal portability; requires a timely federal Form 706 election.Enter 0 or a positive amount.
Federal GST at a flat 40% on Form 706 Schedule R.Enter 0 or a positive amount.
Equals the federal basic exclusion for the year of death.Enter 0 or a positive amount.

Gifting plan

Required in gifting mode. Annual-exclusion gifts are not taxable gifts.Required in gifting mode. Enter 1 or more donees.
Amounts above the annual exclusion become taxable gifts.Enter 0 or a positive amount.
Gifts carry over basis and lose the step-up at death.Enter 0 or a positive amount.
If the tax cannot be eliminated inside this horizon, the calculator says so.Enter a whole number between 1 and 200.

How it works

  • Pennsylvania has no estate tax but does have an inheritance tax. The estate tax was repealed for deaths on or after January 1, 2005 (VERIFY exact date). The inheritance tax (Form REV-1500, due 9 months after death) is imposed on transfers to beneficiaries by class: spouse and charities 0%, lineal ascendants/descendants 4.5%, siblings 12%, all others 15%. Life insurance to a named beneficiary is exempt (VERIFY).
  • Federal estate tax also applies above the federal basic exclusion using the unified 18% to 40% schedule; the federal GST applies at 40% to direct skips above the allocated GST exemption.
  • No community property. Pennsylvania is a common-law state, so no halving of community assets and no double basis step-up.
  • Portability is federal only. A surviving spouse may inherit the unused federal exclusion (DSUE) with a timely Form 706 election; there is no Pennsylvania state exclusion to port.
  • Elective share. A surviving spouse may elect one-third of the elective (augmented) estate under 20 Pa.C.S. 2203 (VERIFY); modeled here on the net estate.
  • Small estates. Simplified administration under 20 Pa.C.S. 3101 is available where the estate (excluding real estate) is $50,000 or less; verify the current figure.
  • Binding factor names what controls the result: the federal exclusion, the federal unified schedule, the Pennsylvania inheritance tax, or the GST.
  • Gifting mode uses the guarded bisection solver (60 expansions, 90 iterations, rounded up) to find the years of annual-exclusion gifting that bring the taxable estate to the exclusion or below.
  • Gifting is not free. Carryover basis loses the step-up; the deferred gain is netted against the tax saved.

Sources

  • PA estate tax (pick-up tied to the federal state death tax credit under IRC 2011) and its repeal for deaths on or after January 1, 2005 (VERIFY exact effective date); Pennsylvania Department of Revenue guidance confirming no state estate or gift tax for those deaths.
  • 72 P.S. 9101 et seq. and Form REV-1500 (Pennsylvania inheritance tax: spouse and charities 0%, lineal ascendants/descendants 4.5%, siblings 12%, all others 15%; life insurance to a named beneficiary exempt; return due 9 months after death) — VERIFY class rates and exemptions; 20 Pa.C.S. 2203 (spousal elective share of one-third of the elective estate; VERIFY); 20 Pa.C.S. 3101 (simplified administration, $50,000 estate excluding real estate; VERIFY); probate venue in the Register of Wills / Orphans’ Court Division of the Court of Common Pleas of the county of domicile (67 counties).
  • IRC chapter 11 unified schedule and exclusion ($13,610,000 / $13,990,000 / $15,000,000 for 2024 / 2025 / 2026); IRC 2010 portability; IRC 2042 life insurance inclusion; IRC 2055 charitable deduction; IRC chapter 13 GST at 40%; IRC 1014 step-up and 1015 carryover basis.
  • IRS Form 706 and Form 4768 instructions (9-month deadline, 6-month filing extension).

Test cases

TC1 – Below federal, all lineal. Philadelphia, 2025, single, lineal transfers 3,000,000. Real 4,000,000; financial 3,000,000; retirement 2,000,000; debts 400,000; funeral 15,000; atty 2%; court 400.
Gross 9,000,000; admin 172,400; deductions 587,400; net estate 8,412,600; TE 8,412,600 below 13,990,000. Federal $0. Inheritance lineal 3,000,000 x 4.5% = 135,000. TOTAL 135,000. Effective 1.5%.
TC2 – Above federal, mixed classes. Allegheny (Pittsburgh), 2025, single, lineal 5,000,000, siblings 1,000,000, others 500,000. Real 9,000,000; financial 6,000,000; retirement 4,000,000; business 2,000,000; debts 500,000; funeral 20,000; atty 2%; court 400.
Gross 21,000,000; admin 410,400; deductions 930,400; net estate 20,069,600; TE 20,069,600 above 13,990,000. Federal tentative 7,973,640 less credit 5,541,800 = FEDERAL 2,431,840. Inheritance lineal 225,000 + siblings 120,000 + others 75,000 = 470,000. TOTAL 2,901,840. Effective 13.82%.
TC3 – Marital + DSUE + sibling transfers. Bucks (Doylestown), 2025, married 20 years, citizen spouse, bequest 8,000,000, DSUE 2,000,000, siblings 2,000,000. Real 15,000,000; financial 7,000,000; life 4,000,000; debts 400,000; funeral 25,000; atty 2%; court 400.
Gross 26,000,000; admin 512,400; deductions 937,400; net estate 25,062,600; less marital 8,000,000 = TE 17,062,600; federal exclusion 15,990,000. Federal tentative 6,770,840 less credit 6,341,800 = FEDERAL 429,040. Inheritance siblings 240,000. TOTAL 669,040. Effective 2.57%. Elective share one-third = 8,354,200.
TC4 – Gifting solver, 2026, maxYears 60, no non-exempt transfers. Lancaster, single. Real 9,000,000; financial 6,000,000; retirement 3,000,000; business 2,000,000; debts 300,000; funeral 15,000; atty 2%; court 400; 4 donees at 19,000.
Gross 20,000,000; admin 394,400; deductions 709,400; net estate 19,290,600; TE 19,290,600 above 15,000,000. FEDERAL 1,716,240. Inheritance $0. TOTAL 1,716,240. Solver: 76,000 per year; 57 YEARS removes 4,332,000 leaving TE 14,958,600 at or below the exclusion, tax $0. Saved 1,716,240.
TC5 – Small estate, sibling transfers. Dauphin (Harrisburg), 2025, married 5 years, citizen spouse, siblings 10,000. Financial 30,000; retirement 15,000; debts 2,000; funeral 4,000; atty 2%; court 300.
Gross 45,000; admin 1,160; deductions 9,160; net estate 35,840; TE 35,840. Federal $0. Inheritance siblings 10,000 x 12% = 1,200. TOTAL 1,200. Effective 2.67%. Small estate available (estate excluding real estate 45,000 at or below 50,000). Elective share one-third = 11,947.

Estimates only. Not legal, tax or financial advice. The Pennsylvania inheritance class rates, elective share and small-estate figure are flagged for verification against 72 P.S. 9101 et seq., 20 Pa.C.S. 2203 and 20 Pa.C.S. 3101. Verify all figures with the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue and federal rules before relying on them.

What Is a Pennsylvania Estate Tax Calculator?

This Pennsylvania estate tax calculator combines a federal estate-tax estimate with Pennsylvania inheritance-tax calculations. It builds the estate from entered assets, subtracts modeled debts and expenses, applies eligible marital and charitable deductions, adds earlier taxable gifts to the federal base, and separately taxes entered beneficiary transfers at the Pennsylvania rates encoded in the calculator.

The calculator determines the estimated transfer tax for an entered Pennsylvania estate by combining federal estate tax, Pennsylvania inheritance tax, and any federal GST tax. The main inputs include estate assets, debts and costs, marital and charitable bequests, beneficiary-class transfers, prior taxable gifts, DSUE, direct skips, and optional annual-exclusion gifting assumptions.

Three modes are available. You can calculate tax on the current estate, test whether an estate profile produces transfer tax, or solve for years of annual-exclusion gifting. County selection controls the displayed Register of Wills and Orphans’ Court venue, not the inheritance-tax rates.

How the Pennsylvania Estate and Inheritance Tax Calculation Works

The calculator first adds five asset categories: real property, financial accounts, retirement accounts and annuities, life insurance entered in the form, and business interests or other property.

G=R+F+T+L+BG=R+F+T+L+B

Here, G is gross estate, R is real property, F is bank, brokerage, and cash accounts, T is retirement accounts and annuities, L is life insurance, and B is business interests, personal property, and other assets.

Administration costs use the entered fee percentage plus Register of Wills and other court costs. Although the field label describes the fee as a percentage of the net estate, the implemented calculation applies the percentage to gross estate minus debts.

A=max⁡(G−D,0)×p100+CA=\max(G-D,0)\times\frac{p}{100}+C

The net estate is then calculated after debts, funeral expenses, administration costs, and casualty or theft losses.

N=max⁡(G−D−Fu−A−Ls,0)N=\max(G-D-F_u-A-L_s,0)

If the decedent is marked married, the spouse bequest receives the calculator’s marital deduction only when the surviving spouse is a U.S. citizen or the QDOT box is selected. The deduction cannot exceed the net estate. The charitable deduction is then limited to what remains after the marital deduction.

For federal estate tax, planned annual-exclusion gifting is subtracted before earlier taxable gifts are added back to the federal tax base.

BF=max⁡(N−M−Ch−Gr,0)+PB_F=\max(N-M-C_h-G_r,0)+P

In this formula, BF is the federal base, M is the allowed marital deduction, Ch is the charitable deduction, Gr is the modeled gifting reduction, and P is earlier taxable gifts.

The federal applicable exclusion equals the basic exclusion encoded for the selected year plus entered DSUE. The calculator uses $13,610,000 for 2024, $13,990,000 for 2025, and $15,000,000 for 2026. Federal tax is the difference between the progressive schedule tax on the federal base and the schedule tax on the applicable exclusion when the base exceeds that exclusion.

TF=max⁡(SF(BF)−SF(EF),0)T_F=\max\left(S_F(B_F)-S_F(E_F),0\right)

The encoded federal schedule starts at 18% and progresses through 20%, 22%, 24%, 26%, 28%, 30%, 32%, 34%, 37%, and 39%, reaching 40% above the final $1,000,000 schedule threshold.

Pennsylvania inheritance tax is separate from the federal estate calculation. The calculator applies 4.5% directly to the entered lineal-heir transfers, 12% to entered sibling transfers, and 15% to transfers entered for all other beneficiaries. Spousal and charitable bequests are not included in this inheritance-tax formula.

TPA=0.045Lh+0.12S+0.15OT_{PA}=0.045L_h+0.12S+0.15O

Here, Lh is the amount entered for lineal heirs, S is the sibling-transfer amount, and O is the amount entered for all others. These transfer amounts are taxed directly as entered. The code does not automatically allocate the net estate among beneficiary classes or cap those fields to the calculated estate value.

Federal GST tax uses direct skips minus the entered GST exemption allocation, with the taxable amount floored at zero.

TGST=0.40×max⁡(Direct Skips−GST Exemption,0)T_{GST}=0.40\times\max(\text{Direct Skips}-\text{GST Exemption},0)

The main total combines all three calculated taxes. Pennsylvania estate tax itself is always $0 in the implemented calculation.

TTotal=TF+TPA+TGSTT_{Total}=T_F+T_{PA}+T_{GST}

Worked Example

Consider a hypothetical 2025 estate with $4,000,000 of real property, $3,000,000 of financial assets, and $2,000,000 of retirement assets. Enter $400,000 of debts, $15,000 of funeral expenses, a 2% administration-fee percentage, and $400 of court costs. Also enter $3,000,000 of transfers to lineal heirs.

Gross estate is $9,000,000. Administration costs are ($9,000,000 − $400,000) × 2% + $400 = $172,400. After debts, funeral expenses, and administration costs, the net estate is $8,412,600. With no marital or charitable deduction and no gifting, that is also the taxable estate before earlier gifts.

The federal base remains below the calculator’s $13,990,000 exclusion for 2025, so federal estate tax is $0. Pennsylvania inheritance tax is $3,000,000 × 4.5% = $135,000. With no GST tax, total transfer tax is $135,000. The effective rate shown is $135,000 ÷ $9,000,000 = 1.50%.

How to Use the Pennsylvania Estate Tax Calculator

  1. Choose estate-tax calculation, larger-estate testing, or the gifting-years solver.
  2. Select a death year from 2024, 2025, or 2026 and choose the Pennsylvania county of domicile.
  3. Enter real property, financial accounts, retirement assets, life insurance, and business or other property.
  4. Enter debts, funeral costs, the attorney and personal representative fee percentage, court costs, and casualty or theft losses.
  5. Enter marital and charitable bequests and, when relevant, select the surviving-spouse and QDOT options.
  6. Enter transfers to lineal heirs, siblings, and all other beneficiaries for the Pennsylvania inheritance-tax calculation.
  7. Enter earlier taxable gifts, federal DSUE, direct skips, and any GST exemption allocation.
  8. For gifting analysis, enter the number of donees, annual gift per donee, unrealized gain, capital-gains-rate selection, NIIT choice, and maximum years to test.
  9. Select the acknowledgment checkbox and use the Calculate button for the chosen mode.

The main estate mode displays total transfer tax. It also breaks out federal estate tax, Pennsylvania inheritance tax, GST tax, the effective rate, federal exclusion headroom, deductions, taxable estate, filing indicators, succession information, and gifting projections. Dollar values are formatted to the nearest whole dollar, while the effective rate is displayed to two decimal places.

Important Assumptions and Output Details

Pennsylvania Beneficiary Classes Are Separate Inputs

The inheritance-tax fields do not automatically come from the estate’s asset total or from the marital and charitable bequest fields. The calculator simply multiplies each entered beneficiary-class amount by its encoded rate. This means accurate use depends on entering appropriate transfer amounts yourself.

Gifting Reduces the Federal Estate Base, Not the Entered Inheritance Tax

The gifting calculation uses the smaller of the entered gift per donee and the encoded annual exclusion. That exclusion is $18,000 for 2024 and $19,000 for 2025 and 2026. The annual reduction is multiplied by the donee count and gifting years.

Gr=min⁡(g,e)×n×yG_r=\min(g,e)\times n\times y

The gifting solver searches for the first whole number of years that makes total calculated transfer tax zero, up to the selected maximum. Because Pennsylvania inheritance tax and GST are not reduced by the gifting calculation, a positive fixed inheritance-tax or GST amount can prevent the solver from ever reaching zero. In that situation, the calculator reports that the required period exceeds the selected maximum.

Federal Headroom and the Displayed Ceiling

Remaining headroom equals the federal applicable exclusion minus the federal base, floored at zero. The displayed tax-free ceiling then adds that federal headroom to the current gross estate. This ceiling is driven by the federal exclusion calculation; it does not recalculate Pennsylvania inheritance-tax transfers as the gross estate changes.

Small-Estate and Elective-Share Indicators

The small-estate test adds financial assets, retirement assets, life insurance, and business or other property while excluding real estate. The result is marked as a small estate when that amount is $50,000 or less. The calculator itself flags this Pennsylvania figure for verification.

For a married decedent, the elective-share display equals one-third of the calculated net estate. The code describes this as a proxy for the elective estate and flags the underlying Pennsylvania rule for verification.

Two Display Limitations in This Revision

The detailed “Net to other heirs” row is calculated from the net estate minus marital and charitable deductions and total transfer tax, with a floor of zero. However, the short summary beneath the main result refers to a result property that is not populated by the calculation function, so that summary amount formats as $0.

The form also accepts unrealized gain, a long-term capital-gains rate, and the NIIT checkbox. In the supplied revision, the gifting-result code reads the appreciation amount from a result property that is not populated. As a result, its displayed deferred-capital-gains cost and net-benefit amounts format as $0. These inputs do not change total transfer tax or the years found by the gifting solver.

Most dollar inputs accept values from $0 through $100,000,000. The administration-fee percentage accepts 0% through 25%, and maximum gifting years accepts values from 1 through 200. Donee and maximum-year values are converted with integer parsing when calculations run. Results remain estimates and may not match an actual estate, inheritance-tax return, probate proceeding, or federal filing.

Estate Tax Calculators for All 50 U.S. States

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does this calculator charge a Pennsylvania estate tax?

No. The implemented Pennsylvania estate-tax amount is always $0. The calculator describes Pennsylvania’s estate tax as repealed for deaths on or after January 1, 2005, while flagging the exact effective-date statement for verification. Its state-level tax calculation instead applies Pennsylvania inheritance-tax rates to entered beneficiary transfers.

How does the calculator estimate Pennsylvania inheritance tax?

It applies 4.5% to the amount entered for lineal heirs, 12% to transfers entered for siblings, and 15% to transfers entered for all others. Spousal and charitable bequests are treated as 0% categories in the calculator’s description. The class rates are explicitly flagged in the calculator for verification.

Does Pennsylvania inheritance tax depend on the federal taxable estate?

No, not in this calculator. Pennsylvania inheritance tax is computed directly from the three beneficiary-class fields. Federal taxable estate calculations, deductions, prior taxable gifts, and DSUE do not reduce those entered Pennsylvania transfer amounts automatically.

How does DSUE affect the result?

Entered DSUE is added to the federal basic exclusion. For example, the calculator’s 2025 basic exclusion is $13,990,000, so an entered DSUE amount increases the applicable federal exclusion by the same amount. DSUE does not change the Pennsylvania inheritance-tax rates or beneficiary-class transfer amounts.

What does the effective transfer-tax rate mean?

The calculator divides total transfer tax by gross estate. Total transfer tax can contain federal estate tax, Pennsylvania inheritance tax, and federal GST tax. If the gross estate is zero, the calculator uses an effective rate of zero rather than dividing by zero.

When does the calculator say Form 706 or REV-1500 is required?

Within the calculator’s logic, federal Form 706 is marked required when the federal base exceeds the applicable federal exclusion. Pennsylvania Form REV-1500 is marked required when calculated Pennsylvania inheritance tax is greater than zero. These are calculator decision rules, not independent legal determinations of filing obligations.

Can annual gifting always reduce the displayed tax to zero?

No. Annual-exclusion gifting reduces the estate amount used in the federal calculation, but the entered Pennsylvania inheritance-tax amounts and GST calculation remain unchanged. If either creates a positive tax that gifting cannot remove, the solver cannot reach a zero total even if the federal estate tax falls to zero.

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