Do non-US citizens pay US estate tax?

Yes. A person who is not a US citizen or domiciliary is taxed on assets the code treats as US-situated, with an exemption of just $60,000. Above that, the rate climbs a graduated schedule to 40%.

What is the estate-tax exemption for non-residents?

$60,000, compared with roughly $15,000,000 for a US citizen or domiciliary in 2026. The figure was set in 1976 and has never been indexed to inflation.

Which of my US assets are actually taxed?

US real estate, tangible property physically kept in the US such as art or a vehicle, shares of US corporations, and US business interests. US bank deposits and shares of non-US companies are generally outside the taxable estate.

Are my US stocks taxed if I hold them at a bank in my own country?

Yes. This is the most common misunderstanding we correct. The code looks at where the company is incorporated, not where the account sits, so shares of US companies held in a foreign brokerage remain US-situated.

Does my country have an estate-tax treaty with the United States?

If you are in Latin America, no. No Latin American country holds a US estate-tax treaty, and Spain's treaty with the US covers income tax only. Treaty relief exists for a short list of countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, and Japan.

How much would my heirs actually owe?

As a conservative estimate, roughly 40% of your US-situated assets above the $60,000 exemption. A $1,200,000 Florida apartment can produce a bill near $400,000, payable in cash. Our estimator calculates your own figure in about 90 seconds, with no email required.

Does spending fewer than 183 days a year in the US make me a non-resident for estate tax?

No. The 183-day substantial presence test governs income tax only. Estate tax uses domicile, which contains no day count at all: it asks where you were living with no definite present intention of leaving. You can be a non-resident for income tax and a US domiciliary for estate tax at the same time, and the reverse is equally possible.

I hold a green card. Which exemption applies to my estate?

A green card makes you a US resident for income tax automatically, but for estate tax it is only one factor among eight, not the answer. Estate tax turns on domicile. Most green card holders living in the US are domiciled there and shield roughly $15,000,000, though that exemption is measured against their worldwide estate rather than only their US assets.

The problem

US estate tax is the trap door beneath your US assets.

You moved wealth into US real estate and US shares because the United States is where the rules do not change overnight. What almost no one tells you: when you die, the US can tax those same assets at up to 40%, above an exemption of just $60,000. Here is exactly how it works, what it reaches, and what it leaves alone.

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The short answer

A non-US person who owns US real estate, shares of US companies, or a US business interest is subject to US estate tax at rates reaching 40% on everything above a $60,000 exemption. A US citizen shields roughly $15,000,000. Who counts as a non-US person here is decided by domicile, not by the 183-day count used for income tax. The tax is due in cash, generally within nine months of death, and reported on IRS Form 706-NA. US bank deposits are generally exempt. No Latin American country has an estate-tax treaty with the United States, and Spain's treaty covers income tax only.

The gap

A US citizen shields $15,000,000. A non-US person shields $60,000.

Exemption for a US citizen (2026)$15,000,000

Exemption for a non-US person$60,000

40%

Top US estate-tax rate on everything above the exemption

In the tax code you are a "nonresident alien," and your exemption on US-situated assets is $60,000. That figure was set in 1976 and has never been indexed to inflation. Above it, the estate tax climbs a graduated schedule to a top rate of 40%. A US citizen or US-domiciled person shields $15,000,000 in 2026. Same assets, same country. The gap of roughly 250 times is decided by one thing: where the code says you are domiciled.

Which test applies to you

For income tax the US counts your days. For estate tax it counts nothing.

These are two separate tests and you are graded on both. Passing one tells you nothing about the other. The IRS puts it in writing for its own examiners: residence for estate and gift tax is based on domicile, not on the income-tax definition.

Income tax

183

days, on a weighted three-year formula

Mechanical. A green card, or 31 days this year plus 183 counting one third of last year and one sixth of the year before. You can plan around it with a calendar.

Estate and gift tax

days anywhere in the test

Domicile. Living in a place, for even a brief period, with no definite present intention of leaving. Two parts: presence, plus intent to remain indefinitely. No day count, no threshold, no formula.

What decides it instead

Courts weigh these eight, and no single one is decisive. Five of them have nothing to do with money.

Green card status
Place of birth
Time spent at the claimed home
Size and furnishing of each home
Where investments and business assets sit
What visas, wills, deeds and returns say about intent
Where the family is
Churches, clubs and community organizations

The determination is made after death, by an examiner reading the paperwork you left behind. There is no form for confirming it in advance. And the risk runs both ways: if your wealth sits mainly outside the United States, an unintended finding of US domicile exposes all of it, not just the US portion.

Read the full article on how residency is decided

What counts

It turns on where the asset sits, not where you live.

The tax reaches only assets the code treats as "US-situated." That category is narrower than most people fear, and its edges are counterintuitive. Getting this line right is most of the planning.

Counted (US-situated)

US real estate: A home, apartment, or land physically in the US, including property held through a US LLC.
Tangible property in the US: Art, a vehicle, or valuables physically kept in the United States.
Shares of US corporations: Even when held in a foreign brokerage account. Where the company is incorporated is what matters.

Not counted (generally exempt)

Life insurance on your own life: The death benefit on a policy insuring you is not US-situated.
US bank deposits: Cash in a US checking or savings account is generally outside the estate.
Shares of a non-US company: Even if that company owns US assets. This is the "foreign blocker."

The most common misunderstanding we correct: US shares you hold through a foreign bank are still US-situated. The account's location does not change that. The code looks at where the company is incorporated.

Where you are matters

A treaty can change everything. Most of our clients do not have one.

The United States has estate-tax treaties with a short list of countries. A treaty can unlock a pro-rata share of the full $15,000,000 exemption instead of the bare $60,000. It is the difference between shielding and optimizing.

Estate and gift treaty

United Kingdom
France
Germany

Estate-tax treaty

Italy
Switzerland

No treaty: $60,000 exemption

Mexico
Brazil
Colombia
Argentina
Chile
Spain

If your country is not on the treaty list, there is no relief valve. The $60,000 is the entire exemption, and life-insurance liquidity usually carries the load. This is the position of most Latin American families, and of Spain.

Why it bites

The bill is due in cash, generally within nine months.

The tax is reported on Form 706-NA and is generally due nine months after death, in cash. There is no automatic plan for a family that is asset-rich and cash-poor. When the estate is a US apartment and a portfolio of US shares, the executor often has to sell the very assets the family wanted to keep, at whatever price the market offers that year, to pay the Treasury. It is illiquidity, not the rate alone, that turns this into a crisis.

In numbers

A family in a no-treaty country, with $2,000,000 in US assets.

A worked illustration, using the conservative top rate.

US condominium: $1,500,000
US shares, held in a local brokerage: $500,000
US-situated total: $2,000,000
Less the exemption: − $60,000
Taxable base: $1,940,000

US estate tax at 40%$776,000

Their US bank balance and everything they own back home do not reduce this. The real schedule is graduated, so the true figure is somewhat lower, and it depends on facts we have not asked for. We show it because the shape matters more than the decimal: a mid seven-figure US estate can face a seven-figure bill no one budgeted for, due in cash.

And if you are below the line, you owe nothing.

This is not a tax everyone needs to worry about. If your US-situated assets are at or below $60,000, there is likely nothing due and no reason to buy anything. We will tell you that plainly. The purpose of this page is not to alarm you. It is to make sure the number never surprises your family.

Common questions

What families ask us first.

Do non-US citizens pay US estate tax?: Yes. A person who is not a US citizen or domiciliary is taxed on assets the code treats as US-situated, with an exemption of just $60,000. Above that, the rate climbs a graduated schedule to 40%.
What is the estate-tax exemption for non-residents?: $60,000, compared with roughly $15,000,000 for a US citizen or domiciliary in 2026. The figure was set in 1976 and has never been indexed to inflation.
Which of my US assets are actually taxed?: US real estate, tangible property physically kept in the US such as art or a vehicle, shares of US corporations, and US business interests. US bank deposits and shares of non-US companies are generally outside the taxable estate.
Are my US stocks taxed if I hold them at a bank in my own country?: Yes. This is the most common misunderstanding we correct. The code looks at where the company is incorporated, not where the account sits, so shares of US companies held in a foreign brokerage remain US-situated.
Does my country have an estate-tax treaty with the United States?: If you are in Latin America, no. No Latin American country holds a US estate-tax treaty, and Spain's treaty with the US covers income tax only. Treaty relief exists for a short list of countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, and Japan.
How much would my heirs actually owe?: As a conservative estimate, roughly 40% of your US-situated assets above the $60,000 exemption. A $1,200,000 Florida apartment can produce a bill near $400,000, payable in cash. Our estimator calculates your own figure in about 90 seconds, with no email required.
Does spending fewer than 183 days a year in the US make me a non-resident for estate tax?: No. The 183-day substantial presence test governs income tax only. Estate tax uses domicile, which contains no day count at all: it asks where you were living with no definite present intention of leaving. You can be a non-resident for income tax and a US domiciliary for estate tax at the same time, and the reverse is equally possible.
I hold a green card. Which exemption applies to my estate?: A green card makes you a US resident for income tax automatically, but for estate tax it is only one factor among eight, not the answer. Estate tax turns on domicile. Most green card holders living in the US are domiciled there and shield roughly $15,000,000, though that exemption is measured against their worldwide estate rather than only their US assets.

Same assets, same country. Where the code says you are domiciled decides everything.

See your own exposure in about 90 seconds.

The estimator applies these same rules to your assets and shows you which are counted and which are not. No email required to see the result.

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