US Nonresident Estate Filing Threshold and Tax Budget Calculator

Start with the decedent’s status, before estimating estate tax

A family holding US corporate shares or US real estate may need to review US federal estate tax after a death, separately from inheritance procedures in another country.
This calculator covers the general filing threshold and a simplified tax budget for a nonresident not a citizen, or NRNC: a decedent who had neither US citizenship nor US estate-tax domicile at death.
The heir’s residence and the location of the brokerage account do not, by themselves, settle the question.
Establish the decedent’s own status and the situs of the assets first.

The supported death or hypothetical planning year is 2026.
Planning values may differ from the eventual date-of-death valuations and the law then in force.
Use this worksheet to organize the estate inventory and a possible federal tax budget for professional review; it does not prepare a return.

US-situs assets: an account balance is not automatically the taxable inventory

Determine the US-situated gross estate attributable to the decedent at death.
Enter an identifying name and a USD value for each asset, checking that holdings across accounts are not counted twice.
Entering a net value after debts may distort the pre-deduction filing threshold, so keep gross assets and allowable deductions separate.
Assets outside the United States belong in the worldwide total, not in the US asset rows.

Joint ownership, trusts, lifetime transfers and the gross treatment of mortgaged property can require further analysis.
Do not assume the name on an account determines the entire includible value, or automatically divide all holdings by an ownership percentage.
Retain valuation reports, statements, ownership records and incorporation details to support the figures you enter.

Compare the $60,000 filing threshold before estate deductions

$59,999.99, $60,000 and $60,000.01 are below, equal to and above the threshold respectively.
Equality is not an excess under this general test, but omitted assets or gifts can change that conclusion.
A tax amount that rounds to zero cents does not erase a filing-threshold excess.
The $60,000 threshold is not indexed for inflation.

Leaving gift amounts at zero does not establish that no gift history exists.
With unknown history, the calculator withholds the filing total and conclusion.
When history and amounts are known, it can compare the general threshold, but the simplified tax budget remains N/A because gifts and credit use require a separate computation.

2026 progressive rates and the general credit of up to $13,000

A tax budget is available only for a verified general NRNC case without treaty treatment, special circumstances, prior taxable gifts or prior credit use.
Taxable estate equals the US gross estate minus net allowable deductions.
Apply Table A from the Form 706 instructions for the year of death, then subtract the general unified credit of up to $13,000, limited to the tentative tax.
Subtracting $60,000 first and multiplying the remainder by 40% does not reproduce the progressive calculation.

Each row applies from its lower bound to the next row’s bound; the final row continues without an upper limit.
Add the base tax to the excess over the bound multiplied by the row’s rate.
A credit reduces tax, whereas an estate deduction reduces taxable estate.
For example, a $1,000,000 taxable estate produces $345,800 of tentative tax and a $332,800 budget after the general credit.
A $2,000,000 taxable estate produces $732,800 under the same simplified assumptions.

Distinguish worldwide estate from net allowable deductions

The worldwide gross estate includes US-situs assets and cannot be smaller than the US total.
The US/worldwide ratio shown on the screen is a reference figure, not an automatic determination of a deduction or treaty credit.
Use it to reconcile inventories across countries and identify missing information.

The main and alternative deduction fields compare two verified assumptions.
They show how the tax budget changes with deductions, but entering a larger figure does not approve it for tax purposes.
A deduction exceeding US gross assets or an unverified worldwide total holds the tax budget.
A zero-deduction scenario still requires confirmation of the relevant assumptions.

How to use the calculator

1. Select a death or hypothetical planning date in 2026 and establish citizenship and domicile.
2. Enter names and USD values for assets whose US situs has been verified.
3. Enter the worldwide estate including US assets, and both reviewed net deduction scenarios.
4. Confirm prior gift, exemption and unified credit history, treaty treatment and special circumstances.
5. Read the filing result, N/A reasons, tax comparison and nine-month preparation date in that order.
6. Save the assumptions and results as TXT, or print the page to review alongside supporting documents.

Enter USD, not Korean won or another currency, with up to two decimal places.
If source records use another currency, establish the appropriate valuation date and conversion separately.
The calculator does not fetch exchange rates or choose a filing valuation rate.
The fictional verified example demonstrates the controls; loading it does not verify your real estate or personal circumstances.

Worked examples: filing review can remain necessary when tax changes

The fictional example assumes $100,000 of US gross assets, $500,000 worldwide, no prior gifts or credit use, and no treaty or special circumstances.
The US share is 20%, and the $100,000 filing total exceeds the threshold by $40,000.
Each net deduction below is assumed to have passed its eligibility and allocation review.

The third scenario has zero tax but still has a $100,000 pre-deduction filing total.
Conversely, $50,000 of US assets plus $10,001 of adjusted taxable gifts produces a $60,001 general filing total.
Because that case has prior gift history, its tax budget is N/A.
The actual gift and credit records need a separate calculation.

Interpret results in the context of the family’s next decision

N/A means the tax was withheld because information is missing or the circumstances are outside scope; it does not mean no tax is due.
A displayed $0 is a computed result under the simplified assumptions.
Neither is a complete estate settlement budget: state estate or inheritance tax, Korean tax, penalties, interest, legal fees and tax preparation fees are excluded.

Nine months after death and filing extensions

The IRS general filing timetable is nine months after death.
The tool adds nine calendar months and uses month-end if the corresponding day does not exist.
For example, 2026-01-15 gives 2026-10-15, while 2026-05-31 gives 2027-02-28.
These are preparation dates: weekends, US holidays and granted extensions are not applied, so do not use them as confirmed legal deadlines without further checking.

Documents to gather and boundaries of the model

• Death certificate, citizenship and domicile records, and evidence of the executor’s authority
• US asset inventory, date-of-death values, issuer or product structure information, and ownership records
• Worldwide estate inventory, including foreign assets and relevant foreign return or estate administration records
• Prior gift returns, the specific 1976 exemption and previously used unified credit
• Expense, debt and allocation evidence, plus marital or charitable deduction eligibility records
• Treaty analysis, special-case review and actual filing and payment timetable

A financial institution’s asset-transfer requirements are separate from the federal filing threshold.
An estate below the general threshold may still be asked for additional documents to close or transfer an account.
Treaties, QDOT, US territories, expatriation, GST, alternate valuation and complex transferred property need individual review.
Korean inheritance tax has its own statutory scope; this calculator does not simply offset a US budget against a Korean tax estimate.

Frequently asked questions