Florida Estate and Inheritance Tax: No State Death Tax

Florida is often described as a state with no death taxes. The accurate version is narrower: the state's only estate tax is a "pick-up" tax tied to a federal credit, and the constitution forbids anything larger. What matters in practice is the federal estate tax, which has its own exemption.

This guide sets out what the Florida Constitution and Florida Statutes chapter 198 say, when a Florida return is or is not needed, and how the federal exclusion works, using the Online Sunshine statute site of the Florida Legislature and the IRS page on estate and gift tax, read on 2 November 2026.

What the Florida Constitution Says

Article VII, section 5(a) provides that no tax upon estates or inheritances of natural persons who are residents or citizens of the state shall be levied by the state, or under its authority, in excess of the aggregate of amounts which may be allowed to be credited upon or deducted from any similar tax levied by the United States or any state. In plain terms, Florida may tax estates only up to the size of a credit against the federal tax, so it cannot add a second layer of its own.

Florida Statutes Chapter 198: The Pick-Up Tax

• Residents: section 198.02 imposes a tax on the estate of a Florida resident equal to the amount by which the federal credit for state death taxes exceeds the constitutionally valid death taxes paid to other states, with values as finally determined for federal estate tax purposes.
• Nonresidents: section 198.03 taxes real property and tangible personal property located in Florida (and certain Florida business intangibles and securities of Florida corporations) of a nonresident U.S. resident, but only as a proportion of the federal credit, based on the Florida share of the gross estate.
• When no credit exists: for a decedent who dies after 31 December 2004, if no state death tax credit is allowable under the Internal Revenue Code, section 198.13(4) says the personal representative is not required to file a Florida return.
• Otherwise: an estate that is required to file a federal estate tax return files an executed copy with the Department of Revenue, and the department can issue a certificate of nonliability for a $5 fee.

The tax is therefore defined entirely by reference to a federal credit. Whether any credit is allowable for a particular death is a federal question, so check the current Form 706 instructions or ask a professional before assuming nothing is due.

The Federal Estate Tax Still Applies

Florida residents are subject to the federal estate tax like everyone else. The IRS states that the Working Families Tax Cuts Bill, signed into law on 4 July 2025 as Public Law 119-21, increased the basic exclusion amount to $15,000,000 for calendar year 2026. An estate that stays under that amount owes no federal estate tax.

The IRS also states that, beginning 1 January 2011, estates of decedents survived by a spouse may elect to pass any of the decedent's unused exclusion to the surviving spouse, an election made on a timely filed estate tax return for the decedent.

2027 note: we found no official 2027 exclusion figure on the IRS page when we read it; check the IRS page before relying on any projection.

Property in Another State

Florida's rules cover Florida residents and property located in Florida. If you own real property or tangible property in a state that has its own estate or inheritance tax, that state's rules apply to that property under its own law. See our estate tax by state and inheritance tax by state guides, and, as an example of a state with both taxes, Maryland.

Official Sources

• Florida Constitution, Article VII, section 5 (Florida Legislature, Online Sunshine)
• Florida Statutes: 198.02, 198.03 and 198.13
• IRS: What's new - Estate and gift tax