At least in the US inheritance tax really isn’t a thing. It’s only a couple of states that do it, and for federal taxes the estate has to be very large. In 2025 the exemption is 13.99 million per individual from any estate taxes. I certainly have never had a family member with an estate anywhere near that size
at least not without preparation, it’s insane that you have to figure out inheritance in advance or your descendants get screwed. If you set things up properly then here you can inherit a primary residence tax free, but if you don’t set things up then you’re just shafted.
You’re really not. You can do zero planning and as long as the total amount is <$14M, there are no taxes due.
One big difference, however, is pretax investments (IRA and 401K in the US). Sell or convert to Roth before you die and it won’t be an issue at all. If everything is in regular taxable accounts, the beneficiaries even get a step up in basis, so they will only owe cap gains on growth after your death.
With inheritance taxes in the west not even then.
You can inherit a fair amount without paying inheritance tax.
I would love to have inheritance tax as something to worry about.
It would mean I have millions to leave my family.
Unless you are dying with millions, inheritance tax is nothing.
Exactly. I forget the limit, but it’s something north of $10M before it gets taxed in the US. Not sure about other western countries.
At least in the US inheritance tax really isn’t a thing. It’s only a couple of states that do it, and for federal taxes the estate has to be very large. In 2025 the exemption is 13.99 million per individual from any estate taxes. I certainly have never had a family member with an estate anywhere near that size
at least not without preparation, it’s insane that you have to figure out inheritance in advance or your descendants get screwed. If you set things up properly then here you can inherit a primary residence tax free, but if you don’t set things up then you’re just shafted.
You’re really not. You can do zero planning and as long as the total amount is <$14M, there are no taxes due.
One big difference, however, is pretax investments (IRA and 401K in the US). Sell or convert to Roth before you die and it won’t be an issue at all. If everything is in regular taxable accounts, the beneficiaries even get a step up in basis, so they will only owe cap gains on growth after your death.
Any third rate tax person could figure that out.