Exemption & rate verified against primary sources · Updated October 1, 2026
Massachusetts Estate Tax in 2026: Exemption, Rates & Calculator
Massachusetts overhauled its estate tax in 2023, raising the exemption to $2,000,000 and building in a credit that fully zeroes out tax at exactly that threshold — a meaningful improvement over the old law, where crossing the line by even $1 could trigger tax on the ENTIRE estate. The underlying calculation still runs through a decades-old federal credit table, not a simple bracket lookup.
Calculate Massachusetts estate tax for your situationHow Massachusetts taxes an estate
Massachusetts computes a tentative credit using a frozen pre-2001 federal 'state death tax credit' table (the same table several other states reference), applied to the taxable estate minus $60,000, then subtracts a fixed $99,600 credit — a number set by statute specifically to zero out a $2,000,000 estate. Because that credit table has its own bracket structure baked in, there's no single flat rate to quote, which is why this page shows a worked example instead of a bracket table.
Worked example
A $10,000,000 Massachusetts taxable estate produces a tentative credit-table amount of $1,067,600; subtracting the fixed $99,600 credit leaves $968,000 owed. At exactly $2,000,000, the same formula produces exactly $0 — the credit is calibrated precisely to that threshold.
Rules worth knowing
- Massachusetts's pre-2023 law had a genuine "cliff": exceeding the exemption by even $1 taxed the WHOLE estate, not just the excess. The 2023 law replaced that with the smoother credit mechanism described above — this page and the calculator model the current (post-January 1, 2023) law only.
- There is no Massachusetts estate tax liability at all below the $2,000,000 filing threshold.
Filing deadline
The federal Form 706 return, when required, is due 9 months after the date of death (IRC §6075(a)). Massachusetts's own Form M-706 has its own deadline — confirm the exact requirement with the Massachusetts Department of Revenue rather than relying on the federal date.
How Massachusetts compares to the other states with an estate tax
13 states plus D.C. levy their own estate tax on top of the federal one, each with a different exemption, top rate, and calculation method — here's every one of them side by side.
| State | Exemption | Top rate | How it's calculated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oregon | $1,000,000 | 16.0% | Graduated 10%–16% |
| Rhode Island | $1,838,056 | 16.0% | Federal credit table |
| Massachusetts (this page) | $2,000,000 | 16.0% | Federal credit table |
| Minnesota | $3,000,000 | 16.0% | Graduated 13%–16% |
| Washington | $3,000,000 | 20.0% | Flat 20% (date-sensitive) |
| Illinois | $4,000,000 | 16.0% | Lesser-of two formulas |
| the District of Columbia | $4,988,400 | 16.0% | Graduated 11.2%–16% |
| Maryland | $5,000,000 | 16.0% | Flat 16% (credit-table equiv.) |
| Vermont | $5,000,000 | 16.0% | Flat 16% |
| Hawaii | $5,490,000 | 20.0% | Graduated 10%–20% |
| Maine | $7,160,000 | 12.0% | Graduated 8%–12% |
| New York | $7,350,000 | 16.0% | Graduated + 105% cliff |
| Connecticut | $15,000,000 | 12.0% | Flat 12% |
Frequently asked questions
Does Massachusetts have an inheritance tax?
No. Massachusetts has an estate tax but no inheritance tax. The estate tax on this page is owed by the estate itself and paid before anything is distributed; beneficiaries do not owe a separate Massachusetts tax on what they receive. (Only Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania still charge an inheritance tax.)
What is the Massachusetts estate tax exemption in 2026?
$2,000,000 per person for deaths in 2026. Estates at or below that amount owe no Massachusetts estate tax. Massachusetts' threshold is a filing threshold: estates above it are taxed using the frozen pre-2001 federal credit table. The federal exemption is separate and much higher ($15,000,000 for 2026), so many estates owe Massachusetts estate tax and no federal estate tax.
What is the top Massachusetts estate tax rate?
16%. Massachusetts computes the tax from the legacy federal credit table rather than a bracket schedule of its own. See "How Massachusetts taxes an estate" above for how the rate is actually applied, and use the calculator for the exact figure on a given estate.
More on estate tax
For how federal estate tax interacts with Massachusetts's own rules, the 2026 federal exemption, and spousal portability, see the full estate tax guide.
How Massachusetts compares: for a single decedent dying in 2026, a $5,000,000 estate owes $292,000 in state estate tax in Massachusetts — 4th highest of the 7 jurisdictions that collect anything at that size, and a $10,000,000 estate owes $968,000. Federal estate tax is $0 in both cases. The full comparison across all 12 estate-tax states and DC, with a downloadable CSV, is in Inheritance and estate tax by state, 2026.