Estate tax worksheet
District of Columbia Estate Tax Calculator
A 2026 death uses a $4,988,400 zero bracket. The District's estate tax applies a marginal schedule to prepared taxable estate, then adjusts for property with District taxable situs. The federal $15 million basic exclusion does not replace this District amount.
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D-76 computation worksheet
Who this covers and what to enter
Start with prepared District gross estate and deductions. The worksheet applies the death-year zero bracket, the marginal schedule, and then the four-decimal property percentage. Amounts are rounded to whole dollars as in the official computation worksheet.
Your estimate
Needs your figuresCalculatedConfirm the prepared return amounts.
- District estate tax
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- Zero bracket for the death year
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- Taxable estate before the zero bracket
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- Schedule tax before allocation
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- Unpaid tax before interest and penalties
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- Overpayment estimate
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Filing is a separate gross-estate test. This estimate does not determine whether a return, extension or release of a lien is required.
Verified October 2, 2026 against the 2026 OTR D-76 instructions and computation worksheet and D.C. Code 47-3701. The 2027 structure is indexed; this tool requires the actual published 2027 zero bracket rather than inventing an inflation figure.
Why a $6 million estate produces $121,299
Assume $6 million prepared gross estate, no deductions, all property allocated to the District, no extra relief and no payments. The first taxable band starts at $4,988,400 and ends at $5 million. Its 11.2% rate produces $1,299.20, which the published worksheet carries as a $1,299 whole-dollar base. The next $1 million is taxed at 12%, giving $121,299 before allocation. A 100% District fraction leaves that amount unchanged.
If only $3 million of the same $6 million gross estate has District taxable situs, the fraction is 0.5000 and the estimated tax rounds to $60,650. This property input must already reflect the correct legal classifications; it is not the balance of a bank account located in Washington.
The schedule starts above the zero bracket
| 2026 taxable estate band | Base at lower end | Marginal rate |
|---|---|---|
| $4,988,400–$5 million | $0 | 11.2% |
| $5–$6 million | $1,299 | 12% |
| $6–$7 million | $121,299 | 12.8% |
| $7–$8 million | $249,299 | 13.6% |
| $8–$9 million | $385,299 | 14.4% |
| $9–$10 million | $529,299 | 15.2% |
| Over $10 million | $681,299 | 16% |
These rates apply to the excess within each band, not to the entire gross estate. The statutory schedule in 47-3702(a-1) includes lower bands that the 2026 zero bracket entirely shelters. The worksheet follows OTR's printed whole-dollar bases instead of treating a rounded table base as an exact unrounded number.
Domicile and situs require separate preparation
The District definition allocates real property by location and tangible property by its customary location at death. Intangible property generally follows domicile, with a separate rule for property used in a District trade or business. A nonresident can therefore still have a District estate-tax obligation. See 47-3701(12A) and 47-3703 for nonresident estates.
D-76 deductions follow the District's own federal-conformity provisions. The statutory taxable-estate definition excludes the federal deduction for state death taxes and recognizes eligible domestic partners. Resolve ownership, marital treatment and deductions before entering totals; the tool does not choose a trust election or determine a partner's eligibility.
Zero tax does not establish no filing
OTR's current instructions describe a gross-estate filing threshold of $4,988,400 or more for 2026 deaths. Deductible expenses can leave no taxable estate while the gross-estate filing test still applies. Returns and payments are made through MyTax.DC.gov; the regular deadline is ten months after death. An extension of filing does not automatically eliminate late-payment interest. Confirm procedural requirements directly with OTR's estate-tax guidance.
For a 2027 death, D.C. Code 47-3701 indexes the $4 million statutory base using its specified Washington-Baltimore CPI definition. Enter the OTR-published amount. A user-entered future amount is a prepared parameter, not an independently verified forecast.
Compare Maryland's estate and beneficiary taxes, Virginia's current no-tax rule, or return to the separate federal estate-tax worksheet.
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