Updated October 7, 2026. Quick answer: Vermont’s estate tax exemption is $5,000,000 for deaths in 2026, and the statute and the Department of Taxes’ table carry the same $5,000,000 with no end date or indexing, so it also applies to 2027 unless the Legislature changes it. The federal exclusion is $15,000,000 for 2026.
Vermont estate tax exemption: 2026 and 2027 at a glance
| Item | What the documents say |
|---|---|
| Exemption, 2026 deaths | $5,000,000 |
| How it is set | Fixed in the statute that imposes the estate tax (32 V.S.A. section 7442a) |
| 2027 figure | $5,000,000, because the statute and the Department’s table carry no end date or indexing |
| Rates | 16 percent of the excess over $5,000,000 |
| Return and deadline | Form EST-191, due nine months after death |
| Federal basic exclusion amount, 2026 | $15,000,000 |
| Sources | Vermont General Assembly; Vermont Department of Taxes; IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 |
What changes in 2027
The Department of Taxes’ table lists $5,000,000 for deaths in 2021 or after, and the statute’s rate table names the same $5,000,000 with no adjustment language. Neither has an end date.
The Legislature did change one related rule in 2026: it raised the filing threshold to $5 million to match the payment threshold, effective June 18, 2026. The $5,000,000 exemption itself did not change.
How the Vermont estate tax works
Vermont has a single bracket: no tax under the exemption and 16 percent of the excess. The result is multiplied by a fraction for the share of the estate in Vermont. The return, Form EST-191, is filed within nine months of the death.
Computed example: a Vermont taxable estate of $6,000,000 is $1,000,000 over the exemption, so the 16 percent tax is $160,000, before the Vermont-share fraction. This is an illustration, not a figure from the Department.
In the documents’ own words
- Estate Tax (Vermont Department of Taxes): “assessed only on the gross estate value exceeding $5 million plus taxable gifts made within two years of death”
- 32 V.S.A. 7442a Imposition of a Vermont estate tax and rate of tax (Vermont General Assembly): “16 percent of the excess over $5,000,000.00”
- Estate Tax (Vermont Department of Taxes): “Legislature increased the Estate Tax filing threshold to $5 million to match the Estate Tax payment threshold”
- Form EST-191 Estate Tax Return Instructions (Vermont Department of Taxes): “filed within nine months of the death of the decedent”
Vermont estate tax rates as the state prints them
Copied from the state’s own document: 32 V.S.A. section 7442a(b), applied to the Vermont taxable estate.
| Over | Up to | Tax |
|---|---|---|
| Under $5,000,000.00 | None | |
| $5,000,000.00 or more | 16 percent of the excess over $5,000,000.00 |
How this compares with the federal exemption
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”. CMG’s page on the federal exemption for 2027 is the federal estate tax exemption for 2027. The state figure on this page is not the federal one: it is the amount at which Vermont starts to tax an estate.
What the documents do not say
- Portability of an unused exemption is not addressed in the documents read.
Common mistakes
- Using the federal $15,000,000 base for a Vermont estate.
- Forgetting the nine-month return deadline; an extension to file does not extend the time to pay.
Related: Vermont estate tax (2026), estate tax by state, the federal estate tax exemption for 2027, Vermont probate cost, and Vermont retirement taxes.
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Answer againSources
- 32 V.S.A. 7442a Imposition of a Vermont estate tax and rate of tax: https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/32/190/07442a
- Estate Tax: https://tax.vermont.gov/individuals/estate-tax
- Form EST-191 Estate Tax Return Instructions: https://tax.vermont.gov/instructions/form-EST-191
- 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 7, 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.