Massachusetts Estate Tax Exemption
The Massachusetts estate tax exemption is $1 million. This means that if your estate is worth more than $1 million when you die, money will be owed to the state before it’s disbursed to your heirs.
Unlike many other estate taxes, the Massachusetts estate tax applies to the entire estate, not just the amount above the exemption. This means if your estate is worth $1.5 million, the tax applies to all $1.5 million, not just the $500,000 above the exemption.
The exemption is not portable between spouses. When the second of two spouses dies, the exemption is still only $1 million.
Massachusetts Estate Tax Rate
The estate tax rate for Massachusetts is graduated. The table below lists all of the rates. To figure out how much your estate will need to pay in estate taxes, first find your taxable estate bracket in the chart below. In the second column, you’ll see the base taxes owed on wealth that falls below your bracket. The third column shows your marginal rate. Multiply that rate by any wealth held above the rate threshold listed in the fourth column. Finally, add that number to the base taxes to get your total Massachusetts estate tax burden.
Here’s an example: Let’s say your total estate is worth $6.2 million. The estate tax applies to the entire value of the estate. Next, find where that number falls on the chart. The base tax for the bracket is $522,800. The bottom of the threshold is $6.040 million, so we subtract that from $6.2 million and get $160,000. That amount multiplied by the marginal rate of 12.8% is $20,480. When we add that number ($20,480) to the base taxes ($522,800), we get a total Massachusetts estate tax of $543,280 owed on a $6.2 million estate.
Note: The chart below shows no taxes owed on the first $40,000 of taxable income because of a system of tax credits from the state.
| Taxable Estate | Base Taxes Paid | Marginal Rate |
| $1 – $40,000 | $0 | 0% |
| $40,000 – $90,000 | $0 | 0.8% |
| $90,000 – $140,000 | $400 | 1.6% |
| $140,000 – $240,000 | $1,200 | 2.4% |
| $240,000 – $440,000 | $3,600 | 3.2% |
| $440,000 – $640,000 | $10,000 | 4.0% |
| $640,000 – $840,000 | $18,000 | 4.8% |
| $840,000 – $1.04 million | $27,600 | 5.6% |
| $1.04 million – $1.54 million | $38,800 | 6.4% |
| $1.54 million – $2.04 million | $70,800 | 7.2% |
| $2.04 million – $2.54 million | $106,800 | 8.0% |
| $2.54 million – $3.04 million | $146,800 | 8.8% |
| $3.04 million – $3.54 million | $190,800 | 9.6% |
| $3.54 million – $4.04 million | $238,800 | 10.4% |
| $4.04 million – $5.04 million | $290,800 | 11.2% |
| $5.04 million – $6.04 million | $402,800 | 12.0% |
| $6.04 million – $7.04 million | $522,800 | 12.8% |
| $7.04 million – $8.04 million | $650,800 | 13.6% |
| $8.04 million – $9.04 million | $786,800 | 14.4% |
| $9.04 million – $10.04 million | $903,800 | 15.2% |
| $10.04 million and up | $1,082,800 | 16.0% |
*The rate threshold is the point at which the marginal estate tax rate goes into effect.
Written by Ben Geier for SmartAsset.