Philadelphia PA Estate Planning Blog

In December 2017, the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 was passed by Congress and signed into law. The updated 2019 exemption amount for estate taxes and gift taxes is $11.4 million per person, or $22.8 million for a married couple. If you have more than this amount when you die, your estate is taxed at 40%. Only the wealthiest among us should be concerned with federal estate tax at this point. A new Congress/Administration could change these laws again in the future, lowering or increasing the exemption, so we will continue to keep you updated.

Please note that at the end of the year 2025, the law reverts to pre-2017 estate tax exemptions ($5 million per person, $10 million per married couple). That is, unless Congress acts to make the current law permanent. 

Federal Estate Taxes are different than Pennsylvania Inheritance Taxes. PA Inheritance Tax rates remain the same in 2019 (0% to spouse, 4.5% to kids and grandkids, 12% to siblings and 15% to everyone else). Remember, there is no exemption in Pennsylvania, and most assets (exception being life insurance proceeds) are subject to the tax upon death.