The Florida estate tax exemption is really the federal exemption, because Florida does not levy its own estate or inheritance tax. For 2026, that federal exemption is $15 million per individual, or up to $30 million for a married couple that uses portability correctly.1Internal Revenue Service. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax Estates under that threshold owe zero estate tax at any level of government. Estates above it pay a flat 40 percent on the amount over the exemption.
Why Florida Has No State-Level Exemption to Speak Of
Florida’s constitution bars the state from collecting an estate or inheritance tax that exceeds the federal credit for state death taxes. Article VII, Section 5 caps the state’s taxing authority at that credit and no higher.2FindLaw. Florida Constitution Art VII 5 – Estate, Inheritance and Income Taxes
For decades, Florida collected a “pick-up” tax that matched the federal credit dollar for dollar. Taxpayers paid nothing extra; the federal government simply redirected part of its tax to the state. Then the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act phased out that credit entirely by 2005. Florida’s power to collect died with it. The estate tax statutes are still on the books in case federal law ever restores the credit, but no Florida estate tax has been collected in over two decades.3Florida Senate. Bill Analysis and Fiscal Impact Statement – SB 278 There is no separate Florida exemption amount because there is no Florida tax to be exempt from.
The $15 Million Federal Exemption in 2026
The $15 million figure is the federal basic exclusion amount — the threshold below which no federal estate tax is owed. It applies to your gross estate, meaning the total value of everything you own worldwide at death: real estate, bank accounts, brokerage and retirement accounts, business interests, life insurance proceeds where you held incidents of ownership, and personal property.
The number climbed to $15 million and became permanent when the One, Big, Beautiful Bill was signed into law on July 4, 2025.1Internal Revenue Service. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax Before that, planners had been bracing for a scheduled reversion. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 roughly doubled the exemption, but on a temporary basis set to expire at the end of 2025, dropping the exemption back to roughly $7 million (the pre-2018 level adjusted for inflation).4Economic Research Service. Federal Tax Issues – Federal Estate Taxes Congress raised it to $15 million with no sunset clause. Inflation indexing begins in 2027, so the figure rises from there.
Estates above $15 million face the 40 percent rate only on the excess. An estate of $16 million, for example, would owe tax on $1 million, not on the whole. For the overwhelming majority of Florida residents, the exemption alone eliminates federal estate tax entirely.
Doubling the Exemption With Portability
A married couple can shield up to $30 million from federal estate tax, but only if the surviving spouse claims portability from the first spouse to die. Under 26 U.S. Code § 2010, any unused portion of the first spouse’s exemption transfers to the survivor as the Deceased Spousal Unused Exclusion, or DSUE.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 2010 – Unified Credit Against Estate Tax
Portability is not automatic. The executor of the first spouse’s estate has to file Form 706 and elect it, even when the estate is far below the filing threshold and owes no tax. Miss the election and the unused exemption is lost. There is no amended return that brings it back once the window closes.
The IRS provides one lifeline. Under Revenue Procedure 2022-32, an estate not otherwise required to file Form 706 can make a late portability election up to five years after the date of death. The return must include a statement at the top of the first page indicating it is being filed under that revenue procedure. No private letter ruling is needed, but the five-year cap is firm. For a surviving spouse with substantial assets, this filing is worth raising with an estate attorney early in probate rather than discovering the gap years later.
Lifetime Gifts Come Out of the Same Pot
The federal estate tax and gift tax share a single unified exemption. The $15 million covers taxable gifts you make during your lifetime as well as assets you leave at death. Every dollar you use on lifetime gifts reduces what remains to shelter your estate.6Internal Revenue Service. Estate and Gift Tax FAQs
Not every gift eats into the exemption. The annual gift tax exclusion lets you give a set amount per recipient each year without reporting the gift or touching your lifetime amount. For 2025, that annual exclusion was $19,000 per recipient. Gifts to a U.S. citizen spouse are unlimited under the marital deduction and never reduce the exemption. Anything above the annual exclusion has to be reported on IRS Form 709, but no gift tax is actually owed until the full $15 million lifetime amount is exhausted.
Non-Citizens Owning Florida Property Get a Different Exemption
The $15 million figure applies to U.S. citizens and residents. A non-resident alien not domiciled in the United States receives only a $60,000 federal estate tax exemption, and only on assets located inside the United States. A foreign national who owns a Florida condo, U.S. stocks, or other domestic property can face 40 percent estate tax on values above $60,000. The gap between $60,000 and $15 million surprises many international families who assume the same rules apply across the board.
The unlimited marital deduction also narrows when the surviving spouse is not a U.S. citizen. To defer estate tax in that situation, assets have to pass into a Qualified Domestic Trust, or QDOT, with at least one U.S. citizen or domestic corporation as trustee. The QDOT must be in place before the estate tax return is filed. Only assets held inside it qualify for the deduction; anything left outside remains fully taxable.
The Florida Lien Release You Still Have to Deal With
No Florida estate tax is owed, but Florida law still places a lien on estate property until the Department of Revenue confirms that. To clear title on real estate before that confirmation, the personal representative files Florida Form DR-308, a request for waiver and release of the Florida estate tax lien.7Florida Department of Revenue. Florida Estate Tax Filing Requirements
Because the underlying tax has been zero for over twenty years, the Department processes these releases as a formality. The formality still matters. Title companies and buyers will not close on estate real property without it. If you plan to sell Florida real estate from an estate, build time into the closing timeline for the DR-308 to move through the Department of Revenue.