Inheritance Tax is a tax on the estate (the property, money and possessions) of someone who’s died.
There’s normally no Inheritance Tax to pay if either:
- the value of your estate is below the £325,000 threshold
- you leave everything above the £325,000 threshold to your spouse, civil partner, a charity or a community amateur sports club
If the estate’s value is below the threshold you’ll still need to report it to HMRC.
If you give away your home to your children (including adopted, foster or stepchildren) or grandchildren your threshold can increase to £500,000.
If you’re married or in a civil partnership and your estate is worth less than your threshold, any unused threshold can be added to your partner’s threshold when you die. This means their threshold can be as much as £1 million.
Inheritance Tax rates
The standard Inheritance Tax rate is 40%. It’s only charged on the part of your estate that’s above the threshold.
ExampleYour estate is worth £500,000 and your tax-free threshold is £325,000. The Inheritance Tax charged will be 40% of £175,000 (£500,000 minus £325,000).
The estate can pay Inheritance Tax at a reduced rate of 36% on some assets if you leave 10% or more of the ‘net value’ to charity in your will.
Reliefs and exemptions
Some gifts you give while you’re alive may be taxed after your death. Depending on when you gave the gift, ‘taper relief’ might mean the Inheritance Tax charged on the gift is less than 40%.
Other reliefs, such as Business Relief, allow some assets to be passed on free of Inheritance Tax or with a reduced bill.
Contact the Inheritance Tax and probate helpline about Agricultural Relief if your estate includes a farm or woodland.
Who pays the tax to HMRC
Funds from your estate are used to pay Inheritance Tax to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). This is done by the person dealing with the estate (called the ‘executor’, if there’s a will).
Your beneficiaries (the people who inherit your estate) do not normally pay tax on things they inherit. They may have related taxes to pay, for example if they get rental income from a house left to them in a will.
People you give gifts to might have to pay Inheritance Tax, but only if you give away more than £325,000 and die within 7 years.
Passing on a home
You can pass a home to your husband, wife or civil partner when you die. There’s no Inheritance Tax to pay if you do this.
If you leave the home to another person in your will, it counts towards the value of the estate.
If you own your home (or a share in it) your tax-free threshold can increase to £500,000 if:
- you leave it to your children (including adopted, foster or stepchildren) or grandchildren
- your estate is worth less than £2 million
Giving away a home before you die
There’s normally no Inheritance Tax to pay if you move out and live for another 7 years.
If you want to continue living in your property after giving it away, you’ll need to:
- pay rent to the new owner at the going rate (for similar local rental properties)
- pay your share of the bills
- live there for at least 7 years
You do not have to pay rent to the new owners if both the following apply:
- you only give away part of your property
- the new owners also live at the property
If you die within 7 years
If you die within 7 years of giving away all or part of your property, your home will be treated as a gift and the 7 year rule applies.
Call the Inheritance Tax and probate helpline if you have questions about giving away a home. They cannot give you advice on how to pay less tax.
Gifts
There’s usually no Inheritance Tax to pay on small gifts you make out of your normal income, such as Christmas or birthday presents. These are known as ‘exempted gifts’.
There’s also no Inheritance Tax to pay on gifts between spouses or civil partners. You can give them as much as you like during your lifetime, as long as they live in the UK permanently.
Other gifts count towards the value of your estate.
People you give gifts to will be charged Inheritance Tax if you give away more than £325,000 in the 7 years before your death.
What counts as a gift
A gift can be:
- anything that has a value, such as money, property, possessions
- a loss in value when something’s transferred, for example if you sell your house to your child for less than it’s worth, the difference in value counts as a gift
Call the Inheritance Tax and probate helpline if you’re not sure.
Exempted gifts
You can give away £3,000 worth of gifts each tax year (6 April to 5 April) without them being added to the value of your estate. This is known as your ‘annual exemption’.
You can carry any unused annual exemption forward to the next year – but only for one year.
Each tax year, you can also give away:
- wedding or civil ceremony gifts of up to £1,000 per person (£2,500 for a grandchild or great-grandchild, £5,000 for a child)
- normal gifts out of your income, for example Christmas or birthday presents – you must be able to maintain your standard of living after making the gift
- payments to help with another person’s living costs, such as an elderly relative or a child under 18
- gifts to charities and political parties
You can use more than one of these exemptions on the same person – for example, you could give your grandchild gifts for her birthday and wedding in the same tax year.
Small gifts up to £250
You can give as many gifts of up to £250 per person as you want during the tax year as long as you have not used another exemption on the same person.
The 7 year rule
If there’s Inheritance Tax to pay, it’s charged at 40% on gifts given in the 3 years before you die.
Gifts made 3 to 7 years before your death are taxed on a sliding scale known as ‘taper relief’.
| Years between gift and death | Tax paid |
|---|---|
| less than 3 | 40% |
| 3 to 4 | 32% |
| 4 to 5 | 24% |
| 5 to 6 | 16% |
| 6 to 7 | 8% |
| 7 or more | 0% |
ExampleSally died on 1 July 2018. She was not married or in a civil partnership when she died.
Sally left 3 gifts in the 7 years before her death:
- £300,000 to her brother 6.5 years before her death
- £50,000 to her sister 4.5 years before her death
- £150,000 to her friend 3.5 years before her death
Sally is not entitled to any other gift exemptions or reliefs.
There’s a £325,000 inheritance tax threshold. Anything below this amount is tax free.
£300,000 is used up by the gift Sally gave her brother. There’s no tax to pay on his gift.
The remaining £25,000 is used up by her £50,000 gift to her sister. There’s tax to pay on the amount not covered by the threshold. That means there’s tax to pay on £25,000 of the gift to Sally’s sister at a rate of 24%.
The £150,000 gift given to her friend is taxed at a rate of 32%.
Sally’s remaining estate was valued at £500,000 and charged at the usual 40% inheritance tax rate. Sally used up the tax-free threshold on gifts given before her death.
Gifts are not counted towards the value of your estate after 7 years.