Name: State Inheritance Taxes 2026
Creator: Clear Money Guide
License: https://clearmoneyguide.com/data/

Updated July 23, 2026. Quick answer: Only 5 states still levy an inheritance tax in 2026: Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, Pennsylvania — and Iowa left the list, with its inheritance tax fully repealed for deaths on or after January 1, 2025. Unlike an estate tax (paid by the estate before distribution), an inheritance tax is paid by the person who inherits, and the rate depends on your relationship to the deceased: spouses are exempt everywhere, children are exempt or near-exempt in most of these states, and unrelated heirs pay the top rates (up to 15–16%). Maryland is the only state that levies both an inheritance tax and an estate tax.

Fast routes: Estate tax by state | Retirement taxes by state | Probate cost by state | Small-estate limits by state

The 5 states with an inheritance tax in 2026

State	2026 inheritance tax (rates by beneficiary class)	Recent changes	Key statutes
Kentucky	yes – Class A (spouse, parent, child, grandchild, sibling, half-sibling): fully exempt for deaths after 6/30/1998; Class B (niece/nephew, half-niece/nephew, daughter/son-in-law, aunt/uncle, great-grandchild): $1,000 exemption, rates 4%-16%; Class C (all others): $500 exemption, rates 6%-16%	none	KRS 140.070; KRS 140.080
Maryland	yes – 10% on ‘collateral’ beneficiaries (e.g., nieces/nephews, cousins, friends, unmarried partners); EXEMPT: spouse, children and other lineal descendants and their spouses, parents, grandparents, siblings, stepchildren/stepparents, and small transfers under $1,000	None enacted. Gov. Moore’s FY2026 budget proposals (repeal inheritance tax; cut estate exemption $5M -> $2M) were REJECTED – the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act of 2025 (HB 352) left both taxes unchanged	Md. Code, Tax-Gen. sec. 7-309(b); Md. Code, Tax-Gen. sec. 7-203; Md. Code, Tax-Gen. sec. 7-204
Nebraska	yes – county-level tax, three classes (rates set by LB 310 (2022), effective for deaths on/after 1/1/2023, still current for 2026): Class 1 immediate relatives (parents, siblings, children, grandchildren) 1% above $100,000 exemption; Class 2 remote relatives (aunts/uncles, nieces/nephews and their descendants) 11% above $40,000; Class 3 all others 15% above $25,000. Exempt: surviving spouse, charities, and any beneficiary under age 22	None enacted 2024-2026. LB 468 (2025), which would have cut rates/raised exemptions (and earlier versions repealed the tax), advanced but was not enacted	Neb. Rev. Stat. secs. 77-2004 to 77-2006 (as amended by LB 310, 2022)
New Jersey	yes – Class A (spouse/civil union/domestic partner, parents, grandparents, children/grandchildren, stepchildren, mutually acknowledged children): exempt; Class C (siblings, spouse/surviving spouse or civil union partner of a child): first $25,000 exempt, then 11% up to $1.1M, 13% next $300K, 14% next $300K, 16% over $1.7M; Class D (everyone else): 15% on first $700,000, 16% above; Class E (charities, religious/educational/medical institutions, NJ government): exempt; transfers under $500 exempt	none	N.J.S.A. 54:34-1; N.J.S.A. 54:34-2
Pennsylvania	yes – rates by relationship, from the first dollar (no exemption thresholds): 0% surviving spouse and parent-to-child under 21; 4.5% lineal heirs (children, grandchildren, parents); 12% siblings; 15% all others; charities/government exempt; family farm and family business exemptions available	none enacted for 2024-2026	72 P.S. sec. 9116

Iowa: repealed as of 2025

none – FULLY REPEALED for deaths on/after 1/1/2025. Iowa DOR: ‘Iowa inheritance tax is not applicable for deaths occurring on or after 1/1/25.’ Phase-out enacted by SF 619 (2021) reduced rates 20%/yr for deaths 2021-2024 If you inherited from an Iowa decedent who died in 2021–2024, phase-out-era rates may still apply to that estate — the date of death controls, not the date you receive assets.

How inheritance tax actually works (and who pays nothing)

Three rules cover most situations. First, the decedent’s state controls (plus the location of any real property) — living in Florida does not protect you from Pennsylvania’s tax on a Pennsylvania inheritance. Second, relationship class sets the rate: surviving spouses are exempt in all five states, and lineal heirs (children, grandchildren) are fully exempt in several and lightly taxed in the rest, while siblings, nieces/nephews, and unrelated heirs pay the top brackets. Third, life insurance paid to a named beneficiary generally passes outside the tax in these states — one of several reasons beneficiary designations are the cheapest estate planning that exists.

Planning around it

Because the tax turns on relationship and state, the levers are concrete: lifetime gifting (all five states tax transfers at death, with look-back rules for deathbed gifts), titling and beneficiary designations that pass assets outside probate, and — for larger mixed-state situations — trust planning coordinated with the estate-tax thresholds and probate costs involved. Our estate planning cost guide prices the professional help in dollars.

Inheriting across state lines?

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Cite this page: Clear Money Guide, “Inheritance Tax by State 2026,” compiled from state statutes and revenue-department sources, July 2026. https://clearmoneyguide.com/inheritance-tax-by-state/ — free to cite with attribution. Download the full dataset as CSV, or contact contact@clearmoneyguide.com for custom cuts.

Work out the number for your estate

Seven states publish a statutory percentage schedule, so probate cost there is arithmetic you can check — and in several of them the attorney and the personal representative are each entitled to the full amount, which doubles it. The probate cost calculator does that math for all 51 jurisdictions, cites the statute beside each result, and tells you whether your estate is small enough to skip full probate altogether.

Does any of this apply to you?

Be honest with the arithmetic before you move for it. Below $1,000,000 no US state estate tax applies anywhere — Oregon has the lowest threshold in the country and that is where it begins. Below roughly $2,000,000 only Oregon and Rhode Island reach you at all. For the large majority of estates the entire “escape the death tax” argument is irrelevant, and the only thing a move changes is your annual income tax — which, if you are leaving one of the 13 jurisdictions that already exempt retirement withdrawals, is also zero.

Inheritance tax is the exception: Kentucky, Nebraska, New Jersey and Pennsylvania charge the heir by relationship, and Pennsylvania does it from the first dollar with no threshold at all. Maryland is the only state that levies both. Test your own numbers with the comparison tool or the personalised ranker.

What probate costs on top

Inheritance tax is charged to the person receiving. Probate cost comes out of the estate before anyone receives anything, under a separate statute. Per-state probate cost:

Methodology

This page was materially reviewed on July 23, 2026. Rates and changes were compiled from state statutes and revenue-department publications and independently spot-verified against primary sources. Nothing here is tax, legal, or personalized financial advice; state tax law changes every year and individual circumstances control — verify with the cited statute or a tax professional before acting. See our Editorial Policy, Corrections, Affiliate Disclosure, and Disclaimer.

State deep dives: our statute-cited single-state guides quantify the inheritance tax with worked examples by heir class — Pennsylvania (4.5–15% from the first dollar), New Jersey (Class C/D rates and the $25,000 sibling exemption), Nebraska (the only county-levied inheritance tax — the LB 310 class tables) and Iowa (fully repealed for deaths on or after January 1, 2025) — alongside each state’s retirement-income and probate rules.