inheritance tax

noun

1

: a tax on a decedent's net estate that is levied after the estate is transmitted to the inheritors

2

: death tax

especially : estate tax

Examples of inheritance tax in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Elkann family instead argue that their grandmother, Marella Caracciolo was a Swiss resident for years before the brothers were born, meaning that they wouldn’t be required to pay inheritance tax in Italy. —Owen Bellwood / Jalopnik, Quartz, 23 Sep. 2024

Chancellor Rachel Reeves could announce changes to capital gains tax, inheritance tax, and council tax, among other measures. —Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 18 Sep. 2024

There is no state income or estate/inheritance tax. —William P. Barrett, Forbes, 14 Sep. 2024

Austria has had no inheritance tax since 2008, the result of a dispute among members of a wealthy family which worked its way up to the country’s constitutional court. —Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1841, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Legal Definition

inheritance tax

noun

: an excise tax that is levied upon the privilege of receiving property as heir or next of kin under the law of intestacy and that is measured by the value of the property received compare estate tax