Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: New York’s 2026 basic estate tax exclusion is $7,350,000 per decedent, up from $7,160,000 in 2025, with graduated rates from 3.06% to 16%. New York has no spousal portability, and its 105% cliff rule means a taxable estate over $7,717,500 loses the exclusion credit entirely and is taxed from the first dollar.
2026 exemption: $7,350,000 (deaths January 1 through December 31, 2026) · Top rate: 16% (on New York taxable estate amounts over $10,100,000) · Key statute: N.Y. Tax Law sec. 952 (rate schedule and cliff mechanism); N.Y. Tax Law sec. 951(a) (fixes the Internal Revenue Code reference date at January 1, 2014)
The 105% cliff, in the statute’s own words
The credit against New York estate tax phases out on a sliding scale once the taxable estate exceeds the basic exclusion amount, and no credit is allowed to the estate of any decedent whose New York taxable estate exceeds 105% of the basic exclusion amount. For 2026, 105% of $7,350,000 is $7,717,500. Between $7,350,000 and $7,717,500 the credit phases down on a linear formula, reaching exactly zero at $7,717,500, so an estate at or above that line is taxed on its entire value from dollar one.
Filing deadline: Form ET-706, nine months, extendable
Estates must, within nine months of the decedent’s death, pay the tax due and file Form ET-706 with a copy of federal Form 706. A filing extension is capped at six months, while a payment extension can run up to twelve months normally, or up to four years from the date of death in cases of undue hardship. Extended payments accrue interest from the original due date regardless of the extension granted.
No spousal portability in New York
New York’s official ET-706 filing instructions state plainly that the portability election for federal estate tax purposes is not allowed for New York State estate tax purposes. A surviving spouse cannot pick up a deceased spouse’s unused New York exclusion; each spouse’s $7,350,000 basic exclusion for 2026 is personal and lost if unused at death. New York’s Internal Revenue Code reference date is frozen at January 1, 2014, before the federal DSUE mechanics New York would otherwise need to incorporate.
Above $7,717,500 the exclusion disappears entirely.
New York’s 2026 exclusion is $7,350,000, but the cliff means a taxable estate above $7,717,500 loses the credit and is taxed from the first dollar. The distance between those two figures is narrow, and it is the whole space in which planning either works or does not.
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Nonresident decedents with New York property
A nonresident's estate must file a New York return if the estate includes any real or tangible property located in New York State, and the nonresident's federal gross estate plus includible gifts exceeds the basic exclusion amount. The New York taxable estate of a nonresident is built on a property-situs test, real and tangible personal property with an actual New York location plus certain New York-situs intangible business property, rather than the decedent's full worldwide estate.
The math near the cliff
Tax owed: $721,690 at $7,700,000; $739,200 at $7,750,000. The 105% cliff line is $7,350,000 times 1.05, or $7,717,500. The bracket for $7,100,001 to $8,100,000 is $650,800 plus 13.6% of the excess over $7,100,000. At $7,700,000, just inside the 5% phase-out band, tax before credit is $650,800 plus 13.6% of $600,000 ($81,600), or $732,400; the partial credit at this point is $10,710, giving a net tax of $721,690. At $7,750,000, over the 105% line, the credit is zero and the full bracket tax applies from dollar one: $650,800 plus 13.6% of $650,000 ($88,400), or $739,200. The jump of $17,510 on only $50,000 more estate value is an effective marginal rate over 35% in that narrow band.
Honest gaps
Could not obtain a verbatim primary-source quote of the exact fractional apportionment formula New York applies to a nonresident's New York-situs property versus total gross estate; this is marked unverified. The portability quote was taken from the text of the ET-706 instructions PDF rather than from a cleanly displayed page, though the underlying document is confirmed as the official Tax Department form.
Source note. Read from https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/TAX/952; https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/estate/etidx.htm; https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/current_forms/et/et706i.pdf; https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/TAX/960 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.