Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: Washington, D.C. taxes estates above the 2026 zero bracket amount of $4,988,400 at marginal rates running from 11.2% up to 16.0%, computed on a true cumulative bracket schedule with no cliff. The DC estate tax return is due 10 months after death, not the nine months used by the federal return, and DC has no portability of a deceased spouse’s unused exclusion.
2026 exemption: $4,988,400 · Top rate: 16.0% · Key statute: D.C. Code sec. 47-3701(14); D.C. Code sec. 47-3702
Filing deadline is 10 months, with layered extension options
The current DC instructions state the DC estate tax return must be filed and the tax paid within 10 months after the death of the decedent, one month longer than the federal nine-month deadline. A first six-month extension is available, and a further six-month extension is available only if the Personal Representative is located outside the United States or there is an extreme emergency. If the Personal Representative obtained a federal filing extension, the DC due date automatically extends to 30 days after that federal extension period ends.
No portability of a deceased spouse’s unused exclusion
The DC Code and the full current instructions booklet contain no DSUE or portability language anywhere. DC provides an unlimited marital deduction, so property passing outright to a surviving spouse produces a zero-tax estate on the first death, but that is a deduction on the first death, not a transfer of the first spouse’s unused exclusion to the survivor. A DC exclusion that goes unused when the first spouse dies is simply lost.
True cumulative marginal brackets, not a cliff, topping out above $10 million
DC sets a base rate of 16%, with the portion of the taxable estate at or below the zero bracket amount taxed at 0%, and incremental rates applied above it across twelve stacked brackets from 6.4% up to 15.2% for estate sizes between $1 million and $10 million, with the 16% base rate applying above $10 million. Because the 2026 exemption of $4,988,400 already exceeds the lower rungs, the effective table starts at 11.2% for taxable estates just above the exemption, then stacks upward to a top bracket base of $681,299 plus 16.0% above $10,000,000. There is no cliff.
Ten months to file, and no unused exclusion passes to a spouse.
DC taxes above a 2026 zero bracket amount of $4,988,400 on a true cumulative schedule, so there is no cliff to fall off. What there is instead is a filing window a month longer than the federal one and an exclusion that dies with the first spouse unless the plan uses it.
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Nonresident decedents: only the DC-situs share is taxed, via an apportionment fraction
DC imposes estate tax on a nonresident's estate only for the part of the gross estate that has its taxable situs in the District, computed by applying a fraction of DC-situs gross estate value over total gross estate value to the tax figure. Real property is taxed where it is physically located, so DC real estate owned by a nonresident creates DC situs and DC tax exposure, and tangible personal property is taxed where customarily located at death. Intangible property such as bank accounts and securities is taxed at the decedent's domicile, so a nonresident's DC bank account alone generally would not create DC situs.
The math on a $5,988,400 estate
Tax owed: $119,907. The taxable estate falls in the bracket for estates over $5,000,000 but not over $6,000,000, whose base tax is $1,299, the tax already accrued on the $11,600 between the exemption and $5,000,000 at 11.2%. The excess above $5,000,000 is $988,400, taxed at the bracket's 12.0% marginal rate: $988,400 times 0.12 equals $118,608. Total DC estate tax equals base tax plus marginal tax: $1,299 plus $118,608 equals $119,907.
Honest gaps
Did not run an exhaustive search of every 2025 to 2026 DC Council bill; the 2026 exclusion increase appears to be the statute's own built-in annual cost-of-living adjustment rather than new legislation, but a narrower bill cannot be fully ruled out. Could not fetch a clean, fully verbatim copy of the rate-bracket section through direct fetch alone; the bracket table and top-rate figures were cross-verified against the statute text and the Office of Tax and Revenue's own computation worksheet.
Source note. Read from https://otr.cfo.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/otr/publication/attachments/2026_D-76_v1.0_final.pdf; https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/47-3701; https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/47-3702; https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/47-3703 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.