Taxable estate and lifetime gifts against the unified credit, with the section 2001(c) schedule
One command on the Estate and gift tax server, callable over MCP as calculate_estate_tax, filed in the registry as Federal estate tax. Every result carries the method it used, the rule pack it was pinned to, what is still missing and whether coverage was complete, for a licensed professional to review.
What it needs, and why
Every input is checked before anything is calculated. Nothing is required to start, and a field left blank means do not apply this rather than zero.
| Input | What it asks for | Why it matters | If you omit it |
|---|---|---|---|
gross_estate | Gross estate | The rate schedule is applied to the taxable estate, which starts from the gross figure. | defaults to 20000000 |
deductions | Deductions (marital, charitable, debts) | Marital, charitable and debt deductions come off before the schedule, so they change the bracket and not only the total. | defaults to 500000 |
lifetime_taxable_gifts | Lifetime taxable gifts | Lifetime gifts are added back and consume the same unified credit, which is the part most often missed. | defaults to 2000000 |
dsue_amount | Deceased spouse's unused exclusion | A deceased spouse's unused exclusion is portable and adds to the credit where portability was elected. | defaults to 0 |
Requests it answers
- “How much federal estate tax would be due?”
- “Do lifetime gifts use up the estate tax exclusion?”
An agent with these skills loaded picks the command from phrasing like that, asks for whatever input is missing, and reports the figures with the method that produced them.
Run it
scripts/mcp_server.sh --server estateThe same command is exposed by taxagent-estate, so Claude, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and any other MCP client can call it directly. Analysis only. No tool in this server places orders, modifies custodian records or files returns. This server holds no client data: every figure arrives in the call and nothing is stored. Results are estimates over those figures, not a return and not tax advice. The compressed fiduciary brackets and the unified credit are computed; what belongs in the gross estate, and what it is worth, are not.
Scripted cases that exercise it
3 of the 71 console cases call this command on a real server over JSON-RPC and assert the outcome. Every one runs on every build, and all of them are listed on the case inventory.
| Case | What it asks | What it shows | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
estate-within-exclusion | An estate under the exclusion | No federal estate tax at $12m against a $15m exclusion. A return may still be due, and several states tax far lower estates. | completed |
estate-gifts-added-back | Lifetime gifts are added back, not subtracted | $2m of prior gifts does not simply shrink the estate: it is added to it before the rate schedule, so it pushes the estate into higher brackets. | completed |
estate-portability | A deceased spouse's unused exclusion | Doubles the shelter to $30m. Taken as given: portability needs a timely return on the first death, which this server cannot check. | completed |
Limits it inherits from taxagent-estate
- Whether property belongs in the gross estate, and what a closely held interest is worth. Both are facts, and both change the answer more than the rate schedule does.
- Generation-skipping transfer tax, and valuation discounts.
- State estate and inheritance taxes, which several states impose at far lower thresholds than the federal exclusion.
- Whether a portability election was made: a deceased spouse's unused exclusion is taken as given.
The server, its other 3 commands and what it deliberately leaves alone are on the Estate and gift tax page.