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Inheritance tax in Lebanon, the transfer fee (رسم الانتقال), combines a progressive fee charged on each heir’s net individual share after that heir’s exemption with a separate Article 43 fixed fee on the portion of the total gross estate above LBP 2.4 billion. As of 2026 the progressive rate runs from 3% for a surviving spouse or child up to 45% for an unrelated beneficiary, and it is applied only to the part of a share above a per-heir exemption (LBP 2.4 billion for close family). This guide gives the current exemptions, the effective rate bands for spouses and descendants, the rate ranges for the remaining classes, the Article 43 fixed fee, the filing deadlines, and a worked example, with a note on what changes for heirs abroad. For a quick estimate on your own share, use our inheritance tax calculator; for the full filing procedure and document list, see our probate and asset-transfer procedure guide.

Key Figures at a Glance (2026)

• What it is: a progressive transfer fee (رسم الانتقال) on each heir’s net share, under Legislative Decree 146/1959 as amended.
• Assessed on: the progressive component is assessed on each heir’s individual net share, and each heir is taxed and exempted separately; the Article 43 fixed fee is assessed at estate level.
• Per-heir exemption: LBP 2.4 billion for descendants, spouses, and parents; LBP 960 million for siblings and other ascendants apart from parents, including grandparents; LBP 480 million for all other heirs.
• Rate, spouses and descendants: 3% to 12% across six statutory brackets; because the two brackets above LBP 12 billion both carry 12% for this category, they are consolidated in the table below.
• Rate, parents: 6% to 18%; more distant relatives higher, up to 45% for unrelated beneficiaries.
• Surtax: a flat 5 per thousand (5‰) on the portion of the total gross transferred estate above LBP 2.4 billion; on request, it may be allocated among the heirs in proportion to their shares.
• Life-insurance proceeds: taxed separately at 5%.
• Deadlines: declare within 90 days of death (file completed within 6 months); pay within 2 months of the collection order.

A caution before the figures: Lebanese inheritance-tax amounts have been recalibrated four times in as many years, by the 2022 and 2024 budget laws, by Decree 56 of 11 March 2025, and by the 2026 budget law. Most figures still circulating online are out of date. The amounts below reflect the law as it stands in 2026. The Schedule 2 rates apply to events occurring after 15 November 2022; earlier events are assessed under Schedule 1. The current Article 9 deductions and Article 43 threshold apply to transactions that remained uncompleted or whose fees were unpaid when Law 40/2026 was issued, so older or already-finalized estates require professional review.

What the Transfer Fee Is, and Who Pays It

The transfer fee is a tax on the passing of assets by death. It is imposed on all movable and immovable property making up the estate, under Legislative Decree No. 146 of 12 June 1959, as amended, and it applies to assets passing by inheritance or under a duly authenticated will.

The key feature, and the one that surprises most people, is that the tax is assessed on each heir’s individual share, net of the charges burdening it, and not on the estate as a whole. Each heir is taxed separately on what that heir receives, and each heir gets a separate exemption. Because the progressive component uses per-heir exemptions and brackets, dividing an estate among several heirs in the same rate class can reduce that component compared with a transfer to one person. The Article 43 fixed fee, however, depends on the total gross estate, so both the heir’s share and the estate total can matter.

The tax reaches:

• all assets located in Lebanon, whether the deceased was Lebanese or foreign, and wherever the deceased lived;
• assets located abroad belonging to a Lebanese resident; and
• assets located abroad belonging to a foreigner resident in Lebanon.

Double taxation on the last category may be relieved under an applicable international convention.

The Exemption Every Heir Receives

Before any rate is applied, the tax administration deducts a family exemption from each heir’s share. The amount depends on how closely the heir is related to the deceased (Article 9 §5 of Legislative Decree 146/1959, as raised by Decree 56 of 11 March 2025 and maintained by the 2026 budget law):

Only the part of the share above the exemption is taxed. Additional exemption layers apply to a child-heir’s share for a permanent disability preventing work, minority, a dependent spouse, and dependent children under 18. The layers are cumulative but capped together at LBP 2.4 billion, and the qualifying circumstance must exist on the date of death. Our inheritance tax calculator applies these supplements automatically when they are relevant.

The Progressive Rates by Class of Heir

The share remaining after the exemption is taxed by brackets, and the rate schedule rises with the remoteness of the kinship. Lebanese law sorts heirs into rate categories, and the closer the heir, the lower the rate.

For spouses and descendants (the first category), the brackets are (Article 59 of Budget Law 10/2022, with the thresholds as raised by Article 50 of Budget Law 324/2024):

Parents form a separate category taxed at 6% to 18% across the same brackets. From there the rates climb with distance of kinship: siblings, then more remote relatives, and finally beneficiaries who are not related to the deceased at all, where the rate reaches up to 45%. The principle is consistent: a surviving spouse or child pays the least, an unrelated legatee the most.

A Fixed Surtax on Larger Estates

On top of the progressive fee, Article 43 imposes a flat fee of 5 per thousand (5‰) on the portion of the total gross value of the transferred assets above LBP 2,400,000,000. It is treated as a debt of the estate, but may, at the interested parties’ request, be distributed among the heirs in proportion to their shares (Article 43 of Legislative Decree 146/1959, as replaced by Article 45 of Law 40/2026). It is a small addition next to the progressive rates, but it should not be forgotten in the final figure.

A Worked Example

Take a son who is the sole heir, inheriting a net share worth LBP 8 billion from a gross estate of LBP 8 billion with no deductible charges (this is illustrative; use the calculator for your own figure).

As a descendant, he is in the first rate category, so his exemption is LBP 2.4 billion. His taxable share is therefore 8 billion minus 2.4 billion, which is 5.6 billion. Applying the first-category brackets to that 5.6 billion:

• the first 1.8 billion at 3% is 54 million;
• the next 1.8 billion at 5% is 90 million;
• the remaining 2 billion at 7% is 140 million.

The progressive fee comes to LBP 284 million. The Article 43 fixed fee is 5‰ of the LBP 5.6 billion by which the gross estate exceeds LBP 2.4 billion, or LBP 28 million, making the total LBP 312 million. If there are other heirs, the Article 43 fee is first calculated on the total gross estate and may be allocated among them pro rata on request. A more distant heir, a nephew or an unrelated legatee, would start from a smaller exemption and climb a steeper rate schedule on the same share.

What Changes for Heirs Abroad

The tax itself does not change because the heirs live abroad, but two practical points do. First, Article 3 reaches all movable and immovable assets in Lebanon regardless of the deceased’s nationality or residence, and all movable and immovable assets abroad when the deceased, Lebanese or foreign, was resident in Lebanon. The deceased’s residence and the assets’ location, not the heirs’ residence, therefore drive the territorial scope; treaty relief may apply to the foreign assets of a foreigner resident in Lebanon. Second, the competent financial department may, at its discretion, extend the declaration deadline by no more than one year for persons required to file who were outside Lebanon at the date of death, or where the event giving rise to the transfer occurred abroad (Article 24 of Legislative Decree 146/1959); in practice, a death-abroad file is handled by the Beirut transfer-fee department.

Deadlines and Penalties, in Brief

The estate must be declared to the Ministry of Finance within 90 days of the death, with the file completed within six months (Article 21), and the assessed fee paid within two months of the collection order being served. Late declaration carries a fine of 3% of the tax per month, and late supporting documents 2% per month, each capped at 50% of the tax on the undeclared assets with a minimum of LBP 100,000 per breach (Article 134 of the Tax Procedures Law No. 44/2008, which replaced the Article 33 penalties); late payment carries a 1% per month collection fine (Article 55). The full document list and the order of the steps are set out in our probate and asset-transfer procedure guide; this note is concerned with the tax itself.

One further head is worth flagging: proceeds of a life-insurance policy are taxed separately at 5% of the insured value, in the currency of the policy and according to the manner of payment by the insurer (Article 15 of Legislative Decree 146/1959, as replaced by Article 55 of Law 324/2024).

Estimate Your Own Tax

Because the tax turns on the class of heir, the size of the individual share, and the current exemption and bracket figures, the reliable way to estimate it is to compute it on your own numbers.

➤ Open the inheritance tax calculator to estimate the transfer fee on your share.

For how the tax fits into the wider picture of settling an estate, and the two systems that govern who inherits in the first place, see our pillar guide to inheritance law in Lebanon.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the inheritance tax rate in Lebanon?

It is progressive and depends on how closely the heir is related to the deceased. A surviving spouse or child pays from 3% to 12%; parents pay 6% to 18%; and more distant relatives or unrelated beneficiaries pay up to 45%, in each case only on the part of the share above the exemption (rates as of 2026).

How is inheritance tax calculated in Lebanon?

The progressive fee is assessed on each heir’s individual net share. From that share, deduct the applicable per-heir exemption (LBP 2.4 billion for a spouse, child, or parent) and apply the progressive brackets for that heir’s class. Separately, calculate the Article 43 fixed fee at 5 per thousand on the portion of the total gross estate above LBP 2.4 billion; on request, it may be allocated among the heirs in proportion to their shares.

Is there an inheritance tax exemption in Lebanon?

Yes. Each heir receives a personal exemption before any rate applies: LBP 2.4 billion for descendants, spouses, and parents; LBP 960 million for siblings and other ascendants apart from parents, including grandparents; and LBP 480 million for other heirs. Extra exemption layers apply to a child-heir’s share for a permanent disability, minority, a dependent spouse, and dependent children under 18, capped together at LBP 2.4 billion.

Do heirs living abroad pay Lebanese inheritance tax?

The tax is the same wherever the heirs live; what matters is the residence of the deceased and where the assets are. Assets in Lebanon are always taxed, and the assets abroad of a deceased who was resident in Lebanon, Lebanese or foreign, are taxed as well. For persons required to file who were abroad at the date of death, or where the event occurred abroad, the declaration deadline can be extended by up to one year.

When must an inheritance be declared in Lebanon?

Within 90 days of the death, with the file completed within six months, and the assessed fee paid within two months of the collection order being served. Late declaration and late payment each carry monthly fines.

Is inheritance tax different for Muslims and Christians in Lebanon?

No. The transfer fee is the same tax for everyone, whatever the community. What differs by community is who inherits and in what shares, the substantive succession rules, which is a separate question from the tax.

Related resources:

• Inheritance Law in Lebanon: A Guide for Heirs and Families Abroad
• Christian and Non-Muslim Inheritance in Lebanon: Shares Under the 1959 Law
• Probate, Inheritance and Asset Transfer in Lebanon: Procedure and Inheritance Tax
• Inheritance Tax Calculator
• Inheritance Shares Calculator

References: Legislative Decree No. 146 of 12 June 1959 (transfer-fee law), especially Articles 1, 3, 8, 9, 15, 21, 24, 41, 43 and 46; Legislative Decree No. 147 of 12 June 1959 (Article 5); Budget Law 10/2022 (Articles 55 and 59); Budget Law 324/2024 (Articles 50 and 55); Decree 56 of 11 March 2025; Law 40/2026 (Article 45); and Tax Procedures Law No. 44 of 11 November 2008 (Articles 55, 104 and 134).