New York Estate Tax Calculator
Estimate New York State estate tax with the 2026 basic exclusion amount, the 105% cliff, and the official ET-706 rate table — plus where your estate stands federally.
The taxable estate is the gross estate minus deductions (debts, administration expenses, the marital and charitable deductions) — plus taxable gifts made in the three years before death.
New York sets the exclusion by the date of death — use the year that applies to the estate.
In the phase-out zone
Every dollar above the $7,350,000 exclusion shrinks the credit, until it hits zero at $7,717,500 (105% of the exclusion). Each additional $10,000 of taxable estate currently adds about $23,751.04 of New York estate tax.
| ET-706 tax computation | Amount |
|---|---|
| Taxable estate for New York State | $7,500,000.00 |
| Tax from the ET-706 rate table (line 2) | $705,200.00 |
| Applicable credit (line 3) | − $318,852.08 |
| Tax after credit (line 4) | $386,347.92 |
Federal check: below the $15,000,000 federal exclusion — no federal estate tax expected.
Estimate only — the ET-706 return starts from the federal gross estate and applies deductions New York allows, so the filed figure can differ. See the official sources below.
How New York's estate tax works
New York is one of the handful of states with its own estate tax, separate from the federal system. The state taxes the right to transfer property at death using a graduated rate table that runs from 3.06% to 16%, and it pairs that table with a single shield — the basic exclusion amount. For 2026 deaths that exclusion is $7,350,000 (tax.ny.gov estate tax hub), up from $7,160,000 in 2025 and $6,940,000 in 2024.
The mechanics live on Form ET-706. The return computes tax on the entire taxable estate from the rate table (line 2), then subtracts an applicable credit (line 3). An estate at or below the exclusion gets a credit equal to its whole table tax, so it owes nothing. Just above the exclusion, the credit shrinks — and at 105% of the exclusion it is gone entirely.
That is the difference between New York and most other states with an estate tax: it is not a simple "tax on the amount over the threshold" system. The exclusion is a credit that gets clawed back, and the clawback is steep enough to make the marginal cost of dying with a slightly larger estate many times the headline rate.
The 105% cliff, in numbers
Between the exclusion ($7,350,000) and 105% of it ($7,717,500), the applicable credit phases out. Past $7,717,500 it is zero, and the full table tax applies to the whole estate — the "cliff". Here is what the official table and worksheet produce for 2026:
| NY taxable estate | Applicable credit | NY estate tax | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| $7,000,000 | $638,000 | $0 | 0% |
| $7,350,000 (exclusion) | $684,800 | $0 | 0% |
| $7,400,000 | $554,851 | $136,749 | 1.85% |
| $7,500,000 | $318,852 | $386,348 | 5.15% |
| $7,600,000 | $126,842 | $591,958 | 7.79% |
| $7,717,500 (105% — cliff) | $0 | $734,780 | 9.52% |
| $7,800,000 | $0 | $746,000 | 9.56% |
| $8,000,000 | $0 | $773,200 | 9.67% |
Read the middle rows again: a $7.5M estate pays about $386,000, and at $7,717,500 the tax reaches roughly $735,000. Moving from the exclusion to the cliff — a $367,500 increase in taxable estate — costs about $735,000 in New York estate tax, an average cost of roughly two dollars of tax for every extra dollar of estate in that band (ET-706 instructions, line 3 worksheet).
The official NY estate tax rate table
Straight from page 6 of Form ET-706 (rev. 9/25). The tax is the base amount plus the marginal rate on the excess over each bracket floor:
| Taxable estate over | but not over | The tax is |
|---|---|---|
| $0 | $500,000 | 3.06% of taxable estate |
| $500,000 | $1,000,000 | $15,300 + 5% of the excess over $500,000 |
| $1,000,000 | $1,500,000 | $40,300 + 5.5% of the excess over $1,000,000 |
| $1,500,000 | $2,100,000 | $67,800 + 6.5% of the excess over $1,500,000 |
| $2,100,000 | $2,600,000 | $106,800 + 8% of the excess over $2,100,000 |
| $2,600,000 | $3,100,000 | $146,800 + 8.8% of the excess over $2,600,000 |
| $3,100,000 | $3,600,000 | $190,800 + 9.6% of the excess over $3,100,000 |
| $3,600,000 | $4,100,000 | $238,800 + 10.4% of the excess over $3,600,000 |
| $4,100,000 | $5,100,000 | $290,800 + 11.2% of the excess over $4,100,000 |
| $5,100,000 | $6,100,000 | $402,800 + 12% of the excess over $5,100,000 |
| $6,100,000 | $7,100,000 | $522,800 + 12.8% of the excess over $6,100,000 |
| $7,100,000 | $8,100,000 | $650,800 + 13.6% of the excess over $7,100,000 |
| $8,100,000 | $9,100,000 | $786,800 + 14.4% of the excess over $8,100,000 |
| $9,100,000 | $10,100,000 | $930,800 + 15.2% of the excess over $9,100,000 |
| $10,100,000 | — | $1,082,800 + 16% of the excess over $10,100,000 |
Basic exclusion amount by year
New York indexes the exclusion to inflation, so the year of death decides which number applies. The state's official table:
| Year of death | Basic exclusion | 105% threshold |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $7,350,000 | $7,717,500 |
| 2025 | $7,160,000 | $7,518,000 |
| 2024 | $6,940,000 | $7,287,000 |
| 2023 | $6,580,000 | $6,909,000 |
| 2022 | $6,110,000 | $6,415,500 |
| 2021 | $5,930,000 | $6,226,500 |
| 2020 | $5,850,000 | $6,142,500 |
| 2019 | $5,740,000 | $6,027,000 |
| 2018 | $5,250,000 | $5,512,500 |
| 2017 | $5,250,000 | $5,512,500 |
| 2016 | $4,187,500 | $4,396,875 |
| 2015 | $3,125,000 | $3,281,250 |
| 2014 | $2,062,500 | $2,165,625 |
Who must file — and when
The filing test is based on the federal gross estate plus certain gifts, not on the taxable estate:
- An estate must file Form ET-706 when the decedent's federal gross estate plus includible gifts exceeds the basic exclusion amount — $7,350,000 for 2026 deaths.
- The return and any tax are due within nine months of death, with a possible six-month extension via Form ET-133 (filing requirements).
- A completed federal Form 706 must be attached to the New York return even when the estate is far below the federal filing threshold ($15,000,000 for 2026 — IRS estate tax).
- Unlike the federal system, New York does not recognize portability — an unused exclusion cannot be passed to a surviving spouse. Planning has to be done before death, on the state side too.
- Three-year gift addback: taxable gifts made within three years of death are added back to the New York gross estate (with exceptions for gifts made while a nonresident, before April 1, 2014, and out-of-state real property).
What moves the number
Because the credit phases out rather than the tax being "on the excess", the size of the estate relative to the 105% line is the whole game. An estate that lands in the phase-out band can shrink its taxable estate to or below the exclusion with ordinary deductions — debts, administration expenses, the marital deduction, and charitable bequests all reduce the taxable estate before the table applies. Life insurance, joint property and retirement accounts are the usual places value hides; the gross estate on the federal return is the starting point New York uses (ET-706 instructions). For the income side of retirement savings, see the NY retirement calculator and the guide to maximizing 401(k) deductions.
Rates and thresholds are stable but not permanent — the exclusion changes yearly and legislation can restructure the credit. This calculator uses the basic exclusion amounts and the rate table published by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance as of September 2026; confirm the current figures on the estate tax hub before relying on an estimate. For the rest of your New York tax picture, the property tax calculator and tax comparison tool cover the ownership and income sides, and the high-income strategies guide covers planning for large incomes. Questions about filing? Start with the Help Center.