Rhode Island estate tax in 2026
Rhode Island still computes its estate tax with the federal credit table of 2001, then subtracts a credit that grows with inflation. Enter the net taxable estate to see the Rhode Island tax.
- Threshold 2026
- $1,838,056
- Credit 2026
- $87,940
- Top rate
- 16 %
- RI-706 due
- 9 months
Rhode Island estate tax for a death in 2026
$94,060
3.1 % of the taxable estate; exemption $1,838,056.
| Exemption or threshold | $1,838,056 |
| Amount above it | $1,161,944 |
| State estate tax | $94,060 |
| Return due | 9 months after death |
Estimate on the state table for 2026. Federal tax comes on top above the federal exclusion.
| Taxable estate | State tax | Share |
|---|---|---|
| $2,000,000 | $11,660 | 0.6 % |
| $3,000,000 | $94,060 | 3.1 % |
| $4,000,000 | $192,460 | 4.8 % |
| $5,000,000 | $303,660 | 6.1 % |
| $6,000,000 | $422,860 | 7.0 % |
| $7,000,000 | $550,060 | 7.9 % |
| $8,000,000 | $685,260 | 8.6 % |
Compiled by Radif Partners · How we calculate · figures read on the state revenue department, the statute and irs.gov · not legal or tax advice
For deaths in 2026 Rhode Island taxes estates whose gross value is above $1,838,056, up from $1,802,431 in 2025; the Division of Taxation has indexed that threshold for inflation every year since 2016. The tax itself follows the four steps of Form RI-706. From the net taxable estate, the gross estate minus deductions, the form subtracts a flat $60,000 to get the adjusted taxable estate. It reads the tax on that amount in the rate schedule of the old federal credit for state death taxes, which climbs from 0.8 % to 16 %. It then subtracts the Rhode Island credit, $87,940 for 2026 against $85,375 in 2025, and multiplies the result by the Rhode Island share of the estate. A net taxable estate of $2,500,000 owes $50,860; one of $5,000,000 owes $303,660. The credit is exactly the table amount at the threshold, so there is no jump just over the line. Return and payment are due 9 months after death, and there has been no filing fee since 2025.
Four lines of Form RI-706
The first page of Form RI-706 does the whole computation, and following it is the clearest way to see how the tax works. Take a resident whose net taxable estate, after debts, expenses and deductions, is $3,000,000:
| Line | What it says | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Net taxable estate | $3,000,000 |
| 4 | Exclusion | $60,000 |
| 5 | Adjusted taxable estate | $2,940,000 |
| 6 | Tax from the computation schedule | $182,000 |
| 7 | Rhode Island credit for 2026 | $87,940 |
| 8 | Tax due before apportionment | $94,060 |
The $60,000 of line 4 and the schedule of line 6 both come from the old federal credit for state death taxes, which no longer exists in federal law. Rhode Island kept them and added its own credit on line 7. The credit chart on page 22 of the form lists one amount per year of death, from 2015 to 2026, and the 2026 amount is $87,940.
Why there is no jump at the threshold
The credit is not an arbitrary figure. It equals the schedule tax on the threshold minus $60,000, so an estate exactly at $1,838,056 owes nothing and an estate a little above it owes a little. The engine of this site checks that identity every time it is built: the schedule gives $87,940 at the 2026 threshold, the credit is $87,940. Above the line the tax rises at the schedule's marginal rate, 7.2 % at first, and the share of the estate paid in tax creeps up slowly.
| Net taxable estate | Rhode Island tax | Share of the estate |
|---|---|---|
| $2,000,000 | $11,660 | 0.6 % |
| $2,500,000 | $50,860 | 2.0 % |
| $3,000,000 | $94,060 | 3.1 % |
| $4,000,000 | $192,460 | 4.8 % |
| $5,000,000 | $303,660 | 6.1 % |
| $7,500,000 | $617,260 | 8.2 % |
| $10,000,000 | $979,660 | 9.8 % |
Rhode Island tax on your figure
Rhode Island estate tax for a death in 2026
$141,260
| Exemption or threshold | $1,838,056 |
| Amount above it | $1,661,944 |
| State estate tax | $141,260 |
| Return due | 9 months after death |
A threshold and a credit that move every January
Rhode Island indexes both numbers each year. The threshold went from $1,802,431 for deaths in 2025 to $1,838,056 for deaths in 2026, a rise of $35,625 or 2.0 %, and the credit moved with it, from $85,375 to $87,940. The two always move together, since the credit is the schedule tax at the threshold. For an estate that does not change in value, the tax therefore falls a little each year: an estate of $3,000,000 would owe $96,625 under the 2025 credit and $94,060 under the 2026 one. The date of death, not the date of filing, decides which year's figures apply.
Gross estate for the test, net estate for the tax
The Division's estate tax page draws a line that matters in practice: an estate is taxable when its gross estate, the full market value before any deduction, exceeds the threshold. Mortgages, debts and claims are deductions, applied afterwards. An estate with a $2,200,000 house and a large mortgage can therefore have to file even if the net estate, after the mortgage, is below $1,838,056. Whether it owes tax is then decided by the computation above. Every Rhode Island return, taxable or not, uses Form RI-706 for deaths since 2015, and Form T-77 goes with it when the deceased had an interest in Rhode Island real estate.
Property in other states, and nonresidents
Part 4 of the form apportions the tax. For a person domiciled in Rhode Island, the Rhode Island gross estate is everything except real estate and tangible property located outside the state. For a nonresident, it is only the Rhode Island real estate and tangible property. The tax of line 8 is multiplied by that amount divided by the gross estate, carried to four decimals.
A Connecticut resident with an estate of $4,000,000 that includes a $1,200,000 house in Newport files Form RI-706. Rhode Island computes $192,460 on the whole estate and keeps 30 %: $57,738. The estate also deals with Connecticut, whose own exemption is far higher (Connecticut estate tax). A Rhode Island resident with a house in Florida sees the opposite effect: the Florida house reduces the Rhode Island share.
Spouses and gifts
What passes to a surviving spouse who is a US citizen is deducted like on the federal return. Rhode Island prints no rule letting the survivor use the first spouse's unused threshold, and the instructions read for this site add no lifetime gifts back to the estate. With a threshold this low, many Rhode Island couples cross the line at the second death even when the first death owed nothing; married couples and state estate tax puts numbers on it.
Paying on time
The return and the full payment are due 9 months after death. A six-month extension to file can be requested on Form RI-4768, with a copy of the federal Form 4768 if one was filed, but it does not stop the clock on the tax. From the due date, interest and a monthly penalty, capped by the Division, run until the tax is paid. The filing fee that applied before was dropped for deaths from January 1, 2025. Other states' calendars are on the deadlines page.