Updated October 5, 2026. Quick answer: No. Illinois has no inheritance tax for a death in 2026. The Attorney General’s estate tax page says an inheritance tax release “may be necessary if a decedent died before January 1, 1983”. Illinois taxes estates instead, through an estate tax the Attorney General administers.
Putting a loan in writing? The interest limit, the signing rules and the time limit to sue, from the state’s own statutes: Illinois promissory note.
Illinois inheritance tax at a glance
| Item | What the documents say |
|---|---|
| State inheritance tax | None |
| What the documents say | The Attorney General’s page says an inheritance tax release may be necessary only for a decedent who died before January 1, 1983 |
| State estate tax | Yes: an Illinois estate tax administered by the Attorney General (35 ILCS 405) |
| Source | Illinois Attorney General; IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 |
What the Illinois documents say
The Illinois Attorney General’s Estate Taxes page says an Illinois Inheritance Tax Release “may be necessary if a decedent died before January 1, 1983”. It describes no inheritance tax for later deaths.
The same page says “The Illinois Attorney General administers the Illinois Estate Tax” and cites the Illinois Estate and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Act, 35 ILCS 405/1 et seq.
What an heir in Illinois still faces
The federal estate tax is paid by the estate, with a 2026 basic exclusion amount of “$15,000,000 for calendar year 2026”. Illinois does levy an estate tax: “The Illinois Attorney General administers the Illinois Estate Tax”. CMG’s Illinois estate tax page covers it.
An heir’s basis under 26 U.S.C. 1014(a) is generally the value at “the date of the decedent’s death”. Inherited retirement money is an income tax question: Illinois 401(k) and IRA withdrawals, the inherited IRA RMD calculator and Illinois probate cost cover the rest.
How current the Illinois documents are
Read on October 5, 2026: Estate Taxes (Illinois Attorney General) (Illinois Attorney General, dated 2026).
What the documents do not say
- No Illinois document read says “Illinois has no inheritance tax” in so many words. The Attorney General’s page limits inheritance tax releases to deaths before January 1, 1983. The Florida Legislature’s 2025 EDR Tax Handbook says “Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania levy inheritance taxes”, which does not include Illinois.
Common mistakes
- Treating the 1983 cutoff as a current requirement; an Illinois inheritance tax release matters only for deaths before January 1, 1983, while the estate tax is the live Illinois tax.
Related: inheritance tax by state, Illinois estate tax, Illinois probate cost, and how Illinois taxes 401(k) and IRA withdrawals.
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Answer againSources
- Estate Taxes (Illinois Attorney General): https://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/Estate-Taxes
- Revenue Procedure 2025-32 (Internal Revenue Service): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-32.pdf
- 26 U.S.C. 1014 Basis of property acquired from a decedent (U.S. Code, 2023 edition, GovInfo): https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title26/html/USCODE-2023-title26-subtitleA-chap1-subchapO-partII-sec1014.htm
- Florida Tax Handbook 2025 (Florida Legislature, Office of Economic and Demographic Research): https://edr.state.fl.us/Content/revenues/reports/tax-handbook/taxhandbook.pdf
Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 5, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a tax professional or the state agency itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.