Does Texas have an estate tax or inheritance tax?

As of August 19, 2026, Texas does not impose a state estate tax or inheritance tax. A Texas estate may still face federal estate tax, federal income tax, property tax, tax tied to another state, or tax on income a beneficiary receives after death. “No Texas death tax” is an answer to one question, not every tax question.

An estate tax is generally measured at the estate level before distribution. An inheritance tax is generally imposed on a recipient based on the inheritance and the governing state’s rules. Texas currently imposes neither tax.

Texas repealed its former inheritance tax

The Texas Comptroller announced that the inheritance tax imposed by former Tax Code Chapter 211 was repealed effective September 1, 2015. The repeal is why current Texas estates do not file a state inheritance-tax return under that former chapter merely because a Texan died.

In 2025, Texas voters added Section 26 to Article VIII of the Texas Constitution. It prohibits the Legislature from imposing specified state taxes on a deceased individual’s estate and from creating or expanding specified taxes on transfers of estates, inheritances, legacies, successions, gifts, and generation-skipping transfers beyond the constitutional terms.

The constitutional text includes exceptions. It does not prohibit the listed tax under Article VIII, Section 29(b), a tax on a motor vehicle transferred by gift, or ad valorem property tax. Read the actual provision before turning a broad tax slogan into a transaction conclusion.

Federal estate tax is a separate system

Federal estate tax can apply even when Texas imposes no estate tax. The federal filing threshold depends on the year of death and considers the gross estate together with adjusted taxable gifts and other statutory items. Deductions, prior gifts, valuation, citizenship, and elections can change the filing and tax result.

The IRS also permits an executor to file Form 706 to elect portability for a surviving spouse when the election is available, even if the estate is below the ordinary filing threshold. That is a filing decision, not proof that tax is due. The current federal estate-tax overview carries the dated federal amount and should be rechecked for the year of death.

An inheritance can create income-tax questions without an inheritance tax

Receiving inherited cash or property is not the same event as later earning income from it. Interest, dividends, rent, business income, and gain on a later sale may create federal income tax. A traditional retirement account can carry taxable distributions to a beneficiary. Income earned by the estate or a trust can require a fiduciary income-tax return and may be taxed to the entity or carried out to beneficiaries.

Basis also matters. Some inherited property receives a basis tied to value at death under federal law, subject to exceptions. Other assets, including many items of income in respect of a decedent, follow different rules. The absence of a Texas inheritance tax does not determine the basis used when property is sold.

No state death-tax return does not eliminate valuation

An executor may still need date-of-death values for the federal filing-threshold analysis, income-tax basis, fiduciary accounting, allocations among beneficiaries, a buy-sell agreement, or a later sale. Closely held businesses, real estate, mineral interests, notes, and partial ownership interests may require qualified appraisal work.

Preserve statements, appraisals, deeds, entity records, and the facts supporting any valuation. The beneficiary who sells an asset years later may need evidence created during administration, when the records and knowledgeable people were still available.

Property and people in another state require another review

A Texas domicile does not answer every other state’s tax claim. Real estate, tangible property, a former domicile, a trust’s administration, a beneficiary’s residence, or business activity can create a connection to another jurisdiction. Each state defines its own estate, inheritance, income, and filing rules.

Do not assume that moving the mailing address moved every tax fact. Keep evidence of domicile, identify property located outside Texas, and obtain state-specific advice before a filing deadline passes.

Probate and tax administration are different jobs

Probate transfers title and authorizes administration under Texas law. Tax returns report the decedent’s final income, estate or trust income, gifts, or federal estate-tax matters when required. An estate can owe no federal estate tax and still need probate, creditor work, income-tax filings, appraisals, and basis records.

The Probate and Trust Administration overview explains the administration path. The Complex Estate and Tax Planning overview addresses coordinated planning when valuation, prior gifts, business interests, portability, or more than one jurisdiction is involved.

Primary sources and legal boundary

Reviewed August 19, 2026. Primary official sources:

This article does not determine a particular estate’s tax, filing, probate, or multistate obligations. Year of death, domicile, situs, citizenship, valuation, prior gifts, income, deductions, elections, and other facts can change the result. This is general information and does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Name the tax before deciding nothing is due

List the decedent’s domicile, property in every state, prior taxable gifts, business and trust interests, beneficiary residences, and expected post-death income. Then match each possible filing to the jurisdiction and tax it actually concerns.

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