Estate taxes are a tax on the transfer of property following a death. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act included an estate-tax exemption, which expires in 2025. It requires an estate to file and pay taxes when gross assets exceed $11.58 million per person. After Dec. 31, 2025, the exemption amount returns to $5 million per individual adjusted for inflation, as set by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. Previously the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 had gradually raised the exemption amount from $675,000 to $3.5 million in 2009.
John Newton
John Newton is the chief economist and Patricia Wolff is the senior director of Congressional relations with American Farm Bureau Federation Market Intel; visit www.fb.org/market-intel for more information.
