Most farm estates exempt from Federal estate tax

As a result of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, the current amount that can be transferred to the next generation free of Federal estate tax is $5.25 million ($10.50 million for a married couple). Based on simulations using farm-level survey data from the 2011 Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), only about 1.5 percent of farm estates would be required to file an estate tax return, and only about half of these estates or 0.7 percent would owe any Federal estate tax. This chart updates information found in the Federal Tax Issues topic page on the ERS website.

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