Virginia Estate
Tax Calculator

Virginia does not impose a state estate tax or inheritance tax. The state's estate tax expired with the federal credit in 2007 and has not been reenacted.

Only the federal estate tax applies to Virginia estates.

Virginia's proximity to Washington, D.C. (which imposes an estate tax) and Maryland (which imposes both an estate and inheritance tax) makes it a popular domicile choice for high-net-worth individuals in the DMV region.

Northern Virginia in particular attracts residents who work in the District but prefer Virginia's more favorable transfer tax environment.

Only the federal estate tax applies to Virginia estates. The $15 million exemption with portability and 40% top rate governs.

No state filing is required.

Virginia's position relative to DC and Maryland creates planning opportunities. A person domiciled in Virginia avoids both DC's estate tax and Maryland's estate and inheritance taxes.

However, real property located in DC or Maryland remains subject to those jurisdictions' transfer taxes regardless of the owner's domicile.

Virginia is a common-law property state with an augmented estate elective share provision. The surviving spouse's elective share is one-third or one-half of the augmented estate depending on descendants, and includes certain lifetime transfers.

Those structuring bypass trusts or other estate tax reduction vehicles must account for this augmented estate calculation.

Virginia's economy spans federal contracting in Northern Virginia, agricultural operations in the Shenandoah Valley, maritime industries in Hampton Roads, and real estate across the state. Horse farms in Virginia hunt country (Fauquier, Loudoun, Albemarle counties) present specialized valuation issues similar to Kentucky.

Conservation easements are widely used on agricultural and open-space properties throughout Virginia.

Model federal estate tax exposure for Virginia estates. Use this calculator to evaluate cross-border planning scenarios with DC and Maryland.

Free for all jurisdictions.

Because Virginia does not impose a state estate tax, the federal estate tax is the only transfer tax layer. The current federal exemption of $15 million per individual (2025) shelters the vast majority of estates.

However, estates that exceed this threshold face a top marginal rate of 40%, making federal planning essential for high-net-worth Virginia residents.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) doubled the federal exemption effective 2018, but this increase is scheduled to sunset after 2025. If Congress does not act, the exemption will revert to approximately $7 million (adjusted for inflation).

For Virginia residents with estates between $7 million and $15 million, this sunset creates a planning window: transfers made now under the higher exemption will not be clawed back, even if the exemption later decreases.

The absence of a state estate tax in Virginia simplifies the analysis — there is no gap between state and federal exemptions to navigate, no separate state return to file, and no risk of double taxation. However, this also means there is no state-level deduction to offset federal liability.

Federal planning tools — marital deductions, charitable deductions, and the unified credit — carry the full weight of estate tax mitigation. Use the Virginia estate tax calculator to model current and post-sunset scenarios, and review the Virginia probate cost calculator to understand full settlement costs.

Federal portability allows a surviving spouse to inherit the deceased spouse's unused estate tax exclusion (DSUE), effectively doubling the available federal exemption to $30 million for married couples. Electing portability requires filing Form 706 for the first-to-die spouse, even if no federal estate tax is owed — a step that is frequently overlooked when no tax appears to be due.

Because Virginia does not impose a state estate tax, there is no state-level portability concern. The federal election is the only one that matters, and it applies automatically to the surviving spouse's estate once made.

This is simpler than in estate-tax states, where the lack of state portability forces the use of bypass trusts to preserve both exemptions.

Despite this simplicity, portability has limitations. The DSUE amount is not indexed for inflation — it locks in at the value of the first spouse's unused exemption at the date of death.

If the surviving spouse remarries and the new spouse dies, the DSUE from the first spouse is lost. For Virginia families with significant wealth, bypass trusts may still be preferable to portability because they provide asset protection, generation-skipping benefits, and inflation-adjusted growth outside the surviving spouse's taxable estate.

Use the executor fee calculator and probate cost calculator to understand the full administration picture when comparing trust structures.

Without a state estate tax, Virginia residents focus planning efforts on the federal layer. The current $15 million exemption provides substantial shelter, but the scheduled TCJA sunset makes it prudent to accelerate planning.

Irrevocable trusts — including ILITs, SLATs, and QPRTs — remove assets from the taxable estate permanently. Once transferred, these assets and their future appreciation are outside the federal estate, regardless of future exemption changes.

Annual exclusion gifts of $19,000 per recipient (2025) remain the simplest estate reduction tool. Married couples can jointly gift $38,000 per recipient through gift-splitting.

Over a decade, a family gifting to four beneficiaries annually removes $1.44 million from the estate with no gift tax return required. Charitable deductions — whether through outright bequests, donor-advised funds, or charitable trusts — further reduce the taxable estate while supporting philanthropic goals.

GRATs and GRUTs (grantor retained unitrusts) transfer appreciation to beneficiaries at minimal transfer tax cost. For Virginia residents holding concentrated stock positions or rapidly appreciating assets, these vehicles are particularly efficient.

Family limited partnerships and LLCs may provide valuation discounts for gift and estate tax purposes, though the IRS scrutinizes these structures closely. Professional valuation and proper documentation are essential.

Model your federal exposure with the Virginia estate tax calculator, or find an estate planning attorney in Virginia for personalized guidance.