Only 2,663 Estates Owed Federal Estate Tax in Returns Filed in 2024. The Biggest 469 Paid Most of the Bill
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In 2024, only 2,663[1] estates owed federal estate tax, according to IRS Statistics of Income. They accounted for 7,195[1] estate tax returns filed that year, and together they paid $23,313,220,000. Plenty of families spend years worrying about the “death tax.” In practice, it falls on a very small group, and most of the money comes from an even smaller group at the top.
Three terms help explain the IRS data that follows. The gross estate is everything a person owned when they died: the house, brokerage accounts, retirement accounts, business interests, even art. The taxable estate is what’s left after deductions, such as property going to a spouse or a charity. The exemption, which the tax code calls the basic exclusion amount, is the part of an estate the federal government doesn’t tax. Only the value above it is taxable.
Ordering Estate Sizes by Federal Tax Paid
Here are the IRS gross-estate size groups, ordered by net estate tax on returns filed in 2024, from the largest estates to the smallest.
| Size of gross estate | Returns filed | Returns owing tax | Net estate tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50 million or more | 825[1] | 469[1] | $15,845,602,000[1] |
| $20 million < $50 million | 2,154[1] | 975[1] | $5,614,599,000[1] |
| $10 million < $20 million | 3,662[1] | 1,002[1] | $1,611,039,000[1] |
| Under $10 million | 553[1] | 217[1] | $241,980,000[1] |
How 469 Estates Covered Most of the Bill
Estates worth $50 million or more paid about 68% of all net estate tax on 2024 returns. Yet they made up only about 18% of the estates that owed anything. A few hundred families covered more than two-thirds of the bill.
Estates between $10 million and $20 million show the opposite pattern. That group filed the most returns and had the most estates owing tax, 1,002[1], but it paid just $1,611,039,000 combined. Those estates sit close to the exemption, so only a small piece of their value gets taxed.
Federal Reserve data for the second quarter of 2026 show the top 1% of households hold 32.5%[2] of U.S. household net worth and 50.9%[2] of corporate equities and mutual fund shares. Stock portfolios and business interests are what the biggest estates are built on.
Why Filing-Year Data Lag the Current Rules
The returns filed in 2024 cover people who died in earlier years, and each estate was measured against the exemption in effect when that person died. For comparison, IRS guidance set the filing threshold at $13,610,000 for a citizen who died in 2024. So the 2024 data actually overstate how many estates would owe tax under today’s rules.
What the $15 Million Exemption Means Now
For deaths in 2026, the tax code now sets the basic exclusion amount at $15,000,000[3] per person. It’s indexed for inflation after 2026 and has no sunset date, a change the IRS links to the One, Big, Beautiful Bill. The IRS says the figure rises to $15,480,000 for deaths in 2027.
A surviving spouse can also claim a late spouse’s unused exclusion. That only works if the executor files an estate tax return and makes the election, which is why some estates file even when they owe nothing. With that election, a married couple can shield up to $30,000,000 in 2026.
State Death Taxes Kick In Far Sooner
Most families won’t owe federal estate tax, but some states set the bar much lower. Massachusetts requires an estate tax return once the gross estate passes $2,000,000. Maryland imposes both an estate tax and an inheritance tax under state law[4]. Pennsylvania taxes inheritances too. 24/7 Wall St. has covered the rules in Massachusetts, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and other states.
Inheritance Rules That Affect Typical Families
Step-up in basis matters far more for most heirs. Under federal law[5], inherited property generally takes a tax basis equal to its fair market value on the date of death. That means gains built up during the parent’s lifetime usually aren’t taxed when an heir sells.
Beneficiary designations decide who gets life insurance and retirement accounts, and they can override a will. That’s why keeping them up to date counts for a lot (we put the whole cleanup checklist, beneficiary forms and account titling included, in a free estate guide). Inherited retirement accounts also carry income tax. For most non-spouse beneficiaries of owners who died after 2019, the SECURE Act requires the entire balance be distributed within ten years. Withdrawals from an inherited traditional IRA are generally taxed as income.
Federal estate tax is a concern for a few thousand very wealthy families a year, and with the exemption rising again in 2027, that group should stay small. For nearly everyone else, the one check worth making is whether the state where a parent lives, or owns property, has its own estate or inheritance tax.
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David Beren has been a Flywheel Publishing contributor since 2022. Writing for 24/7 Wall St. since 2023, David loves to write about topics of all shapes and sizes. As a technology expert, David focuses heavily on consumer electronics brands, automobiles, and general technology. He has previously written for LifeWire, formerly About.com. As a part-time freelance writer, David’s “day job” has been working on and leading social media for multiple Fortune 100 brands. David loves the flexibility of this field and its ability to reach customers exactly where they like to spend their time. Additionally, David previously published his own blog, TmoNews.com, which reached 3 million readers in its first year. In addition to freelance and social media work, David loves to spend time with his family and children and relive the glory days of video game consoles by playing any retro game console he can get his hands on.
