Definition of "Federal estate tax"

Mike Williams real estate agent

Written by

Mike Williamselite badge icon

Keller Williams

Federal tax imposed on the estate of a decedent according to the value of that estate. The first step in the computation of the federal estate tax owed is to determine the value of the decedent's gross estate. This determination can be made by adding the following values of assets owned by the decedent at the time of death:

  1. property owned outright.
  2. gratuitous lifetime transfers, but with the stipulation that the decedent retained the income or control over the income.
  3. gratuitous lifetime transfers subject to the recipient's surviving the decedent.
  4. gratuitous lifetime transfers subject to the decedent's retaining the right to revoke, amend, or alter the gift.
  5. annuities purchased by the decedent that are payable for the life time of the named survivor as well as the annuitant.
  6. property jointly held in such a manner that another party receives the decedent's interest in that property at the decedent's death because of that party's survivor ship.
  7. life insurance in which the decedent retained incidents of ownership.
  8. life insurance that was payable to the decedent's estate.
The second step in the computation of the federal estate tax owed is to subtract allowable deductions (including bequests to charities, bequests to the surviving spouse, funeral expenses, and other administration expenses) from the gross estate. This results in the taxable estate. Adjustable taxable gifts are then added to the taxable estate, resulting in the computational tax base. From the table below, the appropriate tax rate is then applied to the computational tax base, resulting in the tentative (certain credits may still be subtracted) federal estate tax.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Insurance Terms

Inability of the insured to perform one or more of the important daily duties of that insured's occupation. The income payment to the insured is reduced from that of total disability. ...

Liability Insurance is a type of coverage present in Home Insurance as well as other fields of insurance. In Real Estate, Liability Insurance refers to coverage protecting the insured from ...

Form of suretyship. For example, fidelity bonds reimburse an employer for financial loss resulting from dishonest acts of employees. ...

Transfer of high severity risks through the insurance contract to protect against catastrophic occurrences. While insurance is generally not the most cost-effective means of recovery of ...

Coverage for all personal property, regardless of location of an insured and household residents, including children away at school. Written on an all risks basis, subject to excluded ...

Deductible, applied to every loss, expressed as a percentage of that loss. As the loss increases, the deductible amount increases. ...

Life is unpredictable so to compensate this, people have invented insurance. Insurance deals with unforeseen events. Sometimes insurance companies cover only a part of your losses and a few ...

Same as term: statement of opinion : ...

Model state law providing guidelines by regulators for valuation of securities on the books of insurance companies. The act has two sections: one for valuation of fixed rate bonds and debt ...

Popular Insurance Questions