what is an estate tax 
the estate tax is a federal tax levied on the transfer of the estate of a person who dies an estate tax applies when the value exceeds an exclusion limit set by law only the amount that exceeds that minimum threshold is subject to tax 1assessed by the federal government and several state governments these levies are calculated based on the estate s fair market value fmv rather than what the deceased originally paid for its assets the tax is levied by the federal government and also the state where the deceased was living when they died if that state has an estate tax 