Estate & gift tax planning suite

Federal + Connecticut · 2026 tax law

Shared assumptions (2026 defaults — adjustable, apply to all calculators)

Federal exemption ($M)

Federal rate (%)

CT exemption ($M)

CT rate (%)

CT uses unified gift + estate system with $15M total tax cap. No CT spousal portability.

Federal calculation

Taxable estate (after deductions)	$20,000,000
+ Prior taxable gifts	$6,000,000
Combined transfers	$26,000,000
- Federal exemption	$15,000,000
Federal taxable amount	$11,000,000

Connecticut calculation

CT taxable estate	$20,000,000
+ CT taxable gifts	$6,000,000
Combined CT transfers	$26,000,000
- CT exemption	$15,000,000
CT taxable amount	$11,000,000
$15M cap applied	-

Federal tax

$4,400,000

CT tax

$1,320,000

Net to heirs

$14,280,000

Effective tax rate on estate: 28.6%

GST trust appreciation analysis

Gift value today	$6,000,000
Future value of gift	$19,242,853
Appreciation outside estate	$13,242,853
Estimated tax savings vs. holding	$6,886,284

Sensitivity: tax at various estate sizes

Holds prior gifts and other inputs constant.

Estate	Federal	CT	Net to heirs	Eff. rate

Gifting comparison: with vs. without prior gifts

Compares your current scenario against an alternative where prior gifts were never made — those dollars are included in the estate at death instead. Pulls inputs from main calculator.

	With gifting	Without gifting	Difference
Estate at death	$20.0M	$26.0M	-
Federal tax	$0	$0	$0
CT tax	$0	$0	$0
Net to heirs (estate + gift trust)	$0	$0	$0

At zero appreciation the totals match — the unified system taxes lifetime and death transfers identically. The real value of gifting is moving appreciation outside the estate. Enable Advanced mode in main calculator to apply appreciation.

Projection-specific inputs

Gift amount ($M)

Other estate ($M)

Growth rate (%)

Years until death

Combined marginal rate (%)

Combined exemption ($M)

Net to heirs - with gift

Net to heirs - no gift

Gift planning benefit

Net - with gift Net - no gift GST trust value Total tax (no gift)

Year-by-year detail

Year	Trust	Estate	Tax (gift)	Tax (no gift)	Benefit

Basis & capital gains assumptions

Gift basis ($M)

Estate basis ($M)

Cap gains rate - fed + state (%)

% heirs will sell

Uses same gift, estate, growth, years from Year-by-year tab. Gifted assets carry over donor's basis; estate assets get step-up at death.

Net after all tax - with gift

Net after all tax - no gift

True benefit of gifting

Breakdown of the gifting benefit

Estate tax saved	$0
- Lost step-up (extra capital gains)	$0
= True net benefit	$0

With gift (transfer tax only) With gift (after cap gains) No gift (transfer tax only) No gift (after cap gains)

Year-by-year detail

Year	Est. tax saved	Lost step-up	True benefit	Breakeven