An inheritance tax is a state tax paid by the one who receives money or property from a deceased person. Most states no longer charge this tax. An inheritance tax differs from an estate tax. An estate tax is taken from an entire estate before assets are allocated. Not all estates have to pay an estate tax since the threshold is rather high. The 2017 federal exemption level for estate taxes was $5.49 million. The federal inheritance tax lower threshold for 2018 is $5.6 million. Roughly only two percent of estates are obligated to pay these taxes.