As noted above, a certain amount of each estate is exempted from taxation by the federal government. Below is a table of the amount of exemption by year an estate would expect. Estates above these amounts would be subject to estate tax, but only for the amount above the exemption.For example, assume an estate of $3.5 million in 2006. There are two beneficiaries who will each receive equal shares of the estate. The maximum allowable credit is $2 million for that year, so the taxable value is therefore $1.5 million. Since it is 2006, the tax rate on that $1.5 million is 46%, so the total taxes paid would be $690,000. Each beneficiary will receive $1,000,000 of untaxed inheritance and $405,000 from the taxable portion of their inheritance for a total of $1,405,000. This means that they would have paid (or, more precisely, the estate would have paid) a taxable rate of 19.7%.
As shown, the 2001 tax act will repeal the estate tax for one year—2010—and then readjust it in 2011 to the year 2002 exemption level with a 2001 top rate.
On April 2, 2009, the Senate agreed on S.AMDT.873, an amendment to S.CON.RES.13, a non-binding concurrent resolution setting forth the congressional budget for FY 2010, which was later passed. If enacted in the FY 2010 budget, a new $5,000,000 exemption level will be created with a maximum tax rate of 35%.