Definition of "Federal estate tax"

Mike Williams real estate agent

Written by

Mike Williamselite badge icon

Keller Williams

Federal tax imposed on the estate of a decedent according to the value of that estate. The first step in the computation of the federal estate tax owed is to determine the value of the decedent's gross estate. This determination can be made by adding the following values of assets owned by the decedent at the time of death:

  1. property owned outright.
  2. gratuitous lifetime transfers, but with the stipulation that the decedent retained the income or control over the income.
  3. gratuitous lifetime transfers subject to the recipient's surviving the decedent.
  4. gratuitous lifetime transfers subject to the decedent's retaining the right to revoke, amend, or alter the gift.
  5. annuities purchased by the decedent that are payable for the life time of the named survivor as well as the annuitant.
  6. property jointly held in such a manner that another party receives the decedent's interest in that property at the decedent's death because of that party's survivor ship.
  7. life insurance in which the decedent retained incidents of ownership.
  8. life insurance that was payable to the decedent's estate.
The second step in the computation of the federal estate tax owed is to subtract allowable deductions (including bequests to charities, bequests to the surviving spouse, funeral expenses, and other administration expenses) from the gross estate. This results in the taxable estate. Adjustable taxable gifts are then added to the taxable estate, resulting in the computational tax base. From the table below, the appropriate tax rate is then applied to the computational tax base, resulting in the tentative (certain credits may still be subtracted) federal estate tax.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Insurance Terms

Cancellation of an insurance policy on the date that policy becomes effective. This type of cancellation does not require any fees to be paid to the insurance company. ...

Display of percentage of earned premiums as a function of the time in days for term property insurance policies originally written for one year or longer. These tables are used to compute ...

Retention of all files of policies sold by the agent of record who, according to written agreement with the insurance company, has the exclusive rights to solicit renewals. ...

Rule adopted by the financial accounting standards board that requires that obligations owed to re-insurers under multiyear insurance contracts must be reported as liabilities by the ceding ...

Net income expressed as a percentage of average total equity. This percentage measures profitability by expressing how efficiently invested capital or equity is being utilized. ...

Relationship between occupation of an insured and degree of risk in such coverages as life, health, and workers compensation. Some occupations are more risky than others; for example, a ...

Business interruption insurance in which the insured is indemnified for loss of earnings and payment of expenses resulting from adverse weather conditions. For example, the raining out of a ...

Important means of preventing accidents and injuries. Insurers take corporate safety programs into account when rating workers compensation and other business insurance policies. ...

Coverage for a tenant with a favorable lease (enabling the lessee to rent premises for less than the market value). If the lease is canceled by the lessor because an insured peril (such as ...

Popular Insurance Questions