Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: Maryland’s estate tax exemption remains fixed at $5,000,000, unchanged since 2019 and not indexed for inflation, with a top rate of 16%, confirmed directly on the Comptroller’s current Form MET-1. A $6,000,000 estate with no lifetime gifts or out-of-state property owes $160,000 in Maryland estate tax.
2026 exemption: $5,000,000 · Top rate: 16% · Key statute: Md. Code, Tax-Gen. sec. 7-309(b) (exemption, rate computation, portability mechanics); sec. 7-305 (return filing deadline)
Portability requires its own Maryland election, filed separately from the federal one
Maryland’s deceased spousal unused exclusion portability is not automatic just because a federal Form 706 elects portability. To elect portability for 2019 decedents and later, the personal representative of the predeceased spouse must file a timely MET-1 and complete Schedule F, Part I, even if the predeceased spouse’s estate is not taxable. If the MET-1 is filed solely to make this election, the deadline is within five years after the date of death, a window that replaced an earlier two-year Maryland-specific deadline via 2023 legislation.
The inheritance tax credit mechanism: a dollar-for-dollar offset, not a true exemption from double taxation
Maryland is the only state levying both an estate tax and an inheritance tax, and it resolves the overlap with a direct credit. The inheritance tax paid to the Register of Wills is subtracted from the gross Maryland estate tax liability and the difference is the Maryland estate tax due; if the inheritance tax paid equals or exceeds Maryland’s determination of the credit for state death taxes, no Maryland estate tax is due. The estate tax remains owed and accruing interest until the inheritance tax is actually paid, not merely owed.
Up to 16% is a ceiling reached by a lesser-of test, not a simple bracket walk
The current MET-1 form computes a flat 16% of the amount by which the estate exceeds the $5,000,000 exclusion, while a separate schedule computes a graduated credit using the pre-2001 federal Table B schedule applied to the estate’s adjusted taxable estate. The filer enters the lesser of the two computations as the gross Maryland estate tax liability. For estates modestly above the $5,000,000 threshold, the flat 16% computation is usually the smaller, controlling number.
The $5,000,000 exemption has not moved since 2019, but estates have.
Maryland does not index its exemption, so an estate that sat comfortably under it a few years ago can cross the line through appreciation alone, and a $6,000,000 estate owes $160,000. Maryland does allow portability, but only where the election is filed separately from the federal one.
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Nonresidents owe tax only on Maryland-situs real and tangible property, apportioned by formula
A Maryland estate tax return is required for a nonresident whose estate includes any interest in real property permanently located in Maryland, or tangible personal property with a taxable situs there. Intangible property owned by a nonresident is not captured. Where a decedent's estate spans Maryland and other states, the filer computes the percentage of Maryland estate to augmented gross estate, and applies that percentage to the state-death-tax credit to determine the apportioned share of tax attributable to Maryland.
The math on a $6,000,000 estate
Tax owed: $160,000. Flat-rate method: $6,000,000 estate base minus $5,000,000 exclusion equals $1,000,000 excess; 16% times $1,000,000 equals $160,000. The parallel Table B credit computation on this estate size produces a larger number, so the smaller flat-rate figure of $160,000 controls under the lesser-of test. Since the heirs are lineal descendants exempt from Maryland inheritance tax, no inheritance-tax credit applies and net Maryland estate tax due is $160,000.
Honest gaps
A 2026-session bill that would repeal the Maryland estate tax entirely for decedents dying after June 30, 2026 was pre-filed with a committee hearing scheduled for January 2026; no committee vote, floor vote, or final disposition was found this session, so its status is unconfirmed and is not relied on above. The federal unified-rate-schedule figures used inside the Maryland Schedule B calculation were corroborated via the IRS Form 706 instructions rather than a full direct-quote fetch of the IRS Table A text itself.
Source note. Read from https://www.marylandcomptroller.gov/content/dam/mdcomp/tax/forms/2025/met-1.pdf; https://registers.maryland.gov/main/publications/Maryland Estate Tax Tip 42.pdf on 2026-09-04.
Related: estate tax by state · who actually pays the estate tax · the lifetime gift and estate tax exemption.
Statutory text read at each state's own department of revenue or legislature. General information, not legal or tax advice; exemptions, rates and filing rules change, and a qualified estate or tax professional should confirm the current figures before you rely on them.