---
kind: "section"
citation: "26 U.S.C. § 2002"
title: "26"
title_heading: "Internal Revenue Code"
number: "2002"
heading: "Liability for payment"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/26/2002"
units:
  - "Subtitle B — Estate and Gift Taxes"
  - "Chapter 11 — Estate Tax"
  - "Subchapter A — Estates of Citizens or Residents"
  - "Part I — Tax Imposed"
---

# §2002. Liability for payment


The tax imposed by this chapter shall be paid by the [executor](/usc/26/2652.md?p=d).


## Source credit

(Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736, 68A Stat. 374; Pub. L. 98–369, div. A, title V, § 544(b)(1), July 18, 1984, 98 Stat. 894; Pub. L. 101–239, title VII, § 7304(b)(2)(A), Dec. 19, 1989, 103 Stat. 2353.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

1989—Pub. L. 101–239 substituted “The” for “Except as provided in section 2210, the”.

1984—Pub. L. 98–369 inserted exception phrase.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 1989 Amendment

Pub. L. 101–239, title VII, § 7304(b)(3), Dec. 19, 1989, 103 Stat. 2353, provided that: “The amendments made by this subsection [amending this section and section 6018 of this title and repealing section 2210 of this title] shall apply to estates of decedents dying after July 12, 1989.”

### Effective Date of 1984 Amendment

Pub. L. 98–369, div. A, title V, § 544(d), July 18, 1984, 98 Stat. 894, provided that: “The amendments made by this section [enacting section 2210 of this title and amending this section and sections 6018 and 6166 of this title] shall apply to those estates of decedents which are required to file returns on a date (including any extensions) after the date of enactment of this Act [July 18, 1984].”