What Is IRS Form 706?

Form 706: United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return is an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) form that an executor of a decedent’s estate uses to calculate the estate tax and the generation-skipping transfer tax.

An executor uses Form 706 to calculate the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:amount of tax owed on estates valued at more than $13.99 million if the decedent died in 2025 (or $13.61 million in 2024).

Form 706 also helps executors determine the overall value of an estate prior to distributing any assets to 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:beneficiaries as outlined in the decedent’s will or trust. The IRS treats any inheritance with a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:stepped-up valuation—or a step-up basis. That means the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:cost basis is adjusted to the fair market value of the inherited property as of the date of death.

Using the stepped-up valuation methodology allows heirs to minimize 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:capital gains taxes. The method also allows for a cleaner valuation process in terms of limiting the number of administrative tasks associated with the est🍸ate. 

A 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:generation-skipping transfer tax is a transfer of money or property, either as an inheritance or a gift, to someone who is two or more generations after the grantor. The person who receives the inheritance or gift is called the skip person. While a skip person is often a grandchild, it could be anyone who’s at least 37½ years younger than the grantor.

The generation-skipping transfer tax is imposed on gifts and inheritances that a skip person receives. This ensures that taxes are paid at each generational level. The generation-skipping transfer tax has the same lifetime exemption as the federal estate and gift taxes: $13.99 million for 2025 ($13.61 million for 2024).

Who Can File Form 706?

Form 706 must be filed by the executor 𒁃of the estate of every U.S. citizen or resident:

• Whose gross estate, adjusted 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:taxable gifts, and specific exemptions total more than the exclusion amount: $13.99 million for decedents who died in 2025 ($13.61 million in 2024), or
• Whose executor elects to transfer the “deceased spousal unused exclusion” amount to the surviving spouse, regardless of the size of the decedent’s gross estate.

To determine if the estate exceedsꦬ the exclusion amount, add together amounts 1, 2, and 3 below.

1. The adjusted taxable gifts made by the decedent after December 31, 1976
2. The total specific exemption allowed under Section 2521 (as in effect before its repeal by the Tax Reform Act of 1976) for gifts made by the decedent after September 8, 1976
3. The decedent’s gross estate valued as of the date of death

The gross estate includes:

• All property in which the decedent had an interest (including real property outside the U.S.)
• Certain transfers made during the decedent’s life without adequate consideration
•  澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Annuities
• The includable part of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:joint estates with🥂 rights of survivo🎶rship
• The includable part of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:tenancies by the entirety
• Certain life insurance proceeds
• Property over which the decedent had a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:general power of appointment
• Dower or curtesy (or statutory estate) of the surviving spouse
• 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Community property in which the decedent had an interest

澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网: Form 706 is available .

Related Forms

Form 706-NA, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return is used to calculate estate tax and generation-skipping transfer tax liability for nonresident alien decedents.

澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Form 706-GS(D), Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Return for Distributions is used to calculate taxes due on trust distributions subject to the generation-skipping transfer tax. Any skip person who receives a taxable distribution coming from a trust must use Form 706-GS(D) to calculate and report the tax due.

Trustees must report taxable distributions to skip persons using Form 706-GS(D-1), Notification of Distribution from a Generation-Skipping Trust. Note that trustees must also provide the skip person with the information needed to figure the tax due on the distribution.

Where to Mail Form 706

You must file a paper Form 706 to report and pay estate tax or generation-skipping transfer tax within nine months of the date of the decedent’s death. If you can’t file Form 706 by the due date, you can apply for an automatic six-month extension using Form 4768, Application for Extension of Time to File a Return and/or Pay U.S. Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Taxes.

File Form 706 at the following address:

• Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Kansas City, MO 64999

If you’re u🍷sing a private delivery service (includingไ DHL Express, FedEx, and UPS), send Form 706 to:

• Internal Revenue Submission Processing Center, 333 W. Pershing Road, Kansas City, MO 64108

If you’re filing an amended Form 706, use the following address (even if you’re using a private delivery ser♉vice༺):

• Internal Revenue Service Center, Attn: E&G, Stop 824G, 7940 Kentucky Drive, Florence, KY 41042-2915

Make checks payable to “United States Treasury” and note the decedent’s name, Social Security number, and “Form 706” on the check. Alternatively, you can pay online through the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Electronic Federal Tax 🍒Payments System.

The Bottom Line

IRS Form 706, also known as the United States Estate and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Return, is used to report the value of a deceased individual's estate for federal estate tax purposes. It includes information about the decedent's assets, deductions, and beneficiaries. It's used by the IRS to calculate any estate taxes which may be subject to an estate tax exclusion.