Updated October 5, 2026. Quick answer: No. Nebraska has no estate tax for a person who dies in 2026. The Nebraska Legislature’s description of the state’s miscellaneous taxes says “LB 367 (2007) terminated the estate tax and generation-skipping transfer taxes” for decedents dying or transfers occurring on or after January 1, 2007. Nebraska does still have an inheritance tax, a separate tax on beneficiaries. The federal exclusion is $15,000,000 for 2026.
Putting a loan in writing? The interest limit, the signing rules and the time limit to sue, from the state’s own statutes: Nebraska promissory note.
Deeding a home to a family member while you are alive? What Nebraska requires, from its own documents: Nebraska quitclaim deed requirements.
Nebraska estate tax at a glance
| Item | What the documents say |
|---|---|
| State estate tax | None |
| Why | LB 367 (2007) terminated the estate tax for decedents dying on or after January 1, 2007 |
| State inheritance tax | Yes: Nebraska has an inheritance tax on beneficiaries; see the Nebraska inheritance tax page |
| Federal estate tax basic exclusion amount, 2026 | $15,000,000 |
| Source | Nebraska Legislature; Nebraska Department of Revenue; IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 |
Why Nebraska has no estate tax
The Legislature’s description is a 2007 update of a description of how the taxes worked in 2006. It adds that, as a result, this source of tax revenue will decline precipitously and disappear over the next few years.
Does Nebraska have an inheritance tax?
The Department of Revenue’s Form ECIT, the Estate County Inheritance Tax Report, shows the inheritance tax is still administered. It says the personal representative of an estate must “submit a report summarizing inheritance taxes by class of beneficiary” when proceeds from an estate are distributed (Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-2015).
CMG’s Nebraska inheritance tax page covers the beneficiary side.
What applies to a Nebraska estate instead
Federal estate tax is separate. Revenue Procedure 2025-32 says the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, section 70106, increased the “basic exclusion amount to $15,000,000 for calendar year 2026”.
An estate of $3,000,000 in Nebraska owes $0 of state estate tax, and $3,000,000 is below the federal $15,000,000.
Probate: Nebraska probate cost. Retirement accounts: how Nebraska taxes 401(k) and IRA withdrawals.
What the documents do not say
- The Department of Revenue’s own inheritance-tax web pages returned errors when read, so the no-estate-tax statement rests on the Legislature’s description of the repeal, not a Department page.
Common mistakes
- Treating the end of Nebraska’s estate tax as the end of Nebraska death taxes; a beneficiary can still owe the county inheritance tax.
- Assuming the state answer settles the federal one, or the answer for property held in another state.
Related: estate tax by state, inheritance tax by state, and probate cost by state.
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Answer againSources
- Estate and Generation-skipping Transfer Taxes (Description of Five Largest Miscellaneous State Taxes): https://nebraskalegislature.gov/app_rev/source/narr_miscstatetax.htm
- Nebraska Revised Statute 77-2001 (Inheritance tax; property taxable): https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=77-2001
- Form ECIT Estate County Inheritance Tax Report: https://revenue.nebraska.gov/sites/default/files/doc/Form_ECIT_Estate_County_Inheritance_Tax_Report_7-317-2022_final.pdf
- Revenue Procedure 2025-32 (Internal Revenue Service): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-32.pdf
Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 5, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and an estate attorney, a tax preparer or the state agency itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.