Almost none. Estimates based on prior years suggest roughly 4,000 estates out of about 2.8 million annual deaths owe any federal estate tax at all, and married couples are dramatically underrepresented in that group.1Tax Policy Center. How Many People Pay the Estate Tax? The reason so few married couples pay estate tax is structural: in 2026, a couple can shield up to $30 million in combined wealth through a provision called portability, unlimited transfers between spouses are exempt while both are alive or when the first spouse dies, and the tax only becomes a live question when the surviving spouse eventually passes with assets above the exemption.
Why the First Death Almost Never Triggers Tax
The unlimited marital deduction lets one spouse leave any amount of property to the other, completely free of federal estate tax.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 2056 – Bequests, Etc., to Surviving Spouse A billionaire could leave their entire fortune to a surviving spouse and the federal estate tax bill would be zero.
This is why the estate tax is fundamentally a question about the second death. The first spouse to die passes assets to the survivor, those assets are deducted from the gross estate, and there is nothing to tax. The taxable moment, if it arrives at all, arrives when the survivor eventually dies with combined wealth above the available exemption.
One boundary matters here. The marital deduction only applies when the surviving spouse is a U.S. citizen. If the surviving spouse is not a citizen, the deduction is available only when the assets pass into a Qualified Domestic Trust, which requires at least one U.S. citizen or domestic corporation to serve as trustee and lets the IRS collect estate tax on distributions from the trust.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 2056A – Qualified Domestic Trust Couples in this situation need to plan around the rule specifically.
How Portability Gets Couples to $30 Million
The federal estate tax kicks in only when a person’s total wealth at death exceeds the basic exclusion amount. For anyone dying in 2026, that threshold is $15 million per individual.4Internal Revenue Service. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax Congress set the exclusion permanently at $15 million through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in July 2025, with inflation adjustments starting in 2027. Anything above the exclusion faces a top rate of 40%.
For married couples, that per-person figure effectively doubles. When a married person dies without using their full $15 million exclusion, the leftover amount transfers to the surviving spouse. The tax code calls it the Deceased Spousal Unused Exclusion, or DSUE.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 2010 – Unified Credit Against Estate Tax In 2026, portability gives a surviving spouse up to $30 million in combined protection. The survivor keeps the DSUE amount for life, even after remarriage.
Portability is not automatic, and this is where families lose it. The executor of the first spouse’s estate must file a federal estate tax return (Form 706) and elect portability on that return, even when the estate is far too small to owe any tax.6Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 706 When a spouse with modest assets dies and the family assumes no tax paperwork is needed, they can inadvertently forfeit millions of dollars in future protection for the survivor.
If the nine-month filing deadline passes, there is a safety net. Estates that were not otherwise required to file can make a late portability election by submitting a properly completed Form 706 within five years of the death, with a statement at the top indicating the return is filed under Revenue Procedure 2022-32.7Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Procedure 2022-32 After five years, the only remaining option is a private letter ruling from the IRS, which is expensive and not guaranteed.
What Actually Ends Up in the Taxable Estate
Whether a couple ever approaches the exemption depends on what counts. Federal law defines the gross estate as the total value of all property, real or personal, tangible or intangible, wherever situated.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 2031 – Definition of Gross Estate Real estate, bank and brokerage accounts, business interests, retirement accounts, and personal property all go into the total.
Life insurance is the item that surprises people. If the deceased held any “incidents of ownership” in a life insurance policy at death, the full death benefit counts toward the gross estate.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 2042 – Proceeds of Life Insurance Incidents of ownership include the right to change beneficiaries, borrow against the policy, surrender it, or choose how the benefit gets paid. A $5 million policy on someone who already has $12 million in other assets can quietly push the estate over the $15 million line.
Assets are generally valued at fair market value on the date of death, though the executor can elect to value everything six months later if that reduces the tax bill.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 2032 – Alternate Valuation
Deductions then shrink the taxable number, sometimes decisively. Funeral expenses, administration costs, debts owed by the deceased, and unpaid mortgages are deductible.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 2053 – Expenses, Indebtedness, and Taxes Charitable bequests receive an unlimited deduction, so a $5 million gift to a qualifying charity comes off the gross estate entirely before tax is calculated.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 2055 – Transfers for Public, Charitable, and Religious Uses A gross estate of $16 million with $500,000 in debts and $1 million in charitable bequests drops to $14.5 million, safely under the federal exemption.
The State-Level Catch
Couples who feel comfortably below the federal threshold can still owe state tax. Roughly a dozen states and the District of Columbia impose their own estate taxes, with exemption thresholds ranging from as low as $1 million to amounts that mirror the federal figure. A couple with a $4 million estate owes nothing to the IRS but could face a state estate tax bill of tens of thousands of dollars depending on where they live.
A handful of states also impose inheritance taxes, paid by the person receiving the assets rather than by the estate. Rates and exemptions depend on the beneficiary’s relationship to the deceased. Spouses are typically exempt; children, siblings, and unrelated beneficiaries may owe at varying rates. Maryland is the only state that imposes both an estate tax and an inheritance tax.
State systems generally do not offer portability the way the federal system does, and most do not match the federal exemption level. Couples in states with low thresholds often need state-specific planning strategies, such as credit shelter trusts, that are unnecessary for federal purposes alone.
When a Return Is Required and What Happens If Tax Is Owed
Form 706 must be filed when the gross estate plus adjusted taxable gifts exceeds the filing threshold for the year of death, or when the estate elects portability regardless of size.13Internal Revenue Service. Frequently Asked Questions on Estate Taxes For 2026 deaths, the filing threshold is $15 million. The return is due nine months after the date of death, with an automatic six-month extension available through Form 4768.14eCFR. 26 CFR 20.6081-1 – Extension of Time for Filing the Return The extension covers filing, not payment; any tax owed is still due at the nine-month mark unless a separate payment extension is granted.
Most Form 706 filings involve no tax at all. Of the roughly 7,000 estate tax returns filed each year, fewer than 4,000 result in a tax liability.1Tax Policy Center. How Many People Pay the Estate Tax? The rest are filed to elect portability or to document the estate for administrative purposes. With the exemption now at $15 million, the number of taxable returns will likely shrink further.
For the small number of married couples whose surviving spouse dies with a taxable estate, the top rate on amounts above the exemption is 40%. For everyone else, and that is nearly everyone, the practical answer to whether married couples pay federal estate tax is no, provided the executor of the first spouse to die remembers to file Form 706 and elect portability.