What an estate is likely to pay: the nil-rate band, the residence nil-rate band for a home passing to children or grandchildren, the spouse and charity exemptions, gifts in the last seven years, the reduced rate for charitable estates — and the date the tax is due.
Everything the deceased owned at death, less what they owed. Then tick whether the home passes to children, and enter what goes to a spouse or to charity. The calculator applies the bands in order and says which route to the grant applies.
| Nil-rate band | £325,000 |
| Residence nil-rate band (home to descendants) | £175,000 |
| Taper of the residence band starts at | £2,000,000 |
| Rate above the bands | 40% (36% with a tenth to charity) |
| Tax due | 6 months after the end of the month of death |
The nil-rate band is £325,000: the first £325,000 of a chargeable estate is taxed at 0% and the rest at 40%. Where a home passes to children or grandchildren the residence nil-rate band adds up to £175,000, tapered away by £1 for every £2 the estate exceeds £2 million. Any percentage of a late spouse's or civil partner's bands left unused transfers to the survivor, so a couple can pass on up to £1 million tax-free.
Yes, where both are UK-domiciled: transfers between spouses and civil partners are exempt without limit under section 18. Nothing passes to the children on the first death in that case, so the deceased's nil-rate band goes unused and transfers in full to the survivor's estate.
Gifts made in the seven years before death are brought back into the calculation and use the nil-rate band first, oldest gift first. Tax on a gift itself is the recipient's and is reduced by taper relief once the gift is more than three years old. Gifts out of surplus income and the annual £3,000 exemption fall outside this.
Six months after the end of the month in which the death occurred. Interest runs from that date whether or not the grant has issued, and on most estates the tax on non-instalment assets must be paid before the probate registry will issue the grant. Tax on land and certain business assets can be paid in ten annual instalments.
An estate that does not need a full IHT400 account: broadly, one worth no more than £3 million whose chargeable value after the spouse and charity exemptions is within the available nil-rate band, with no more than £250,000 of lifetime gifts. Its values are declared in the probate application instead. Claiming the residence nil-rate band means a full account.
The tax is due six months after the end of the month of death, the account within twelve, and it is not safe to distribute until six months after the grant. A listed wills and probate solicitor takes the file from the death certificate to the estate accounts.
Find a probate solicitorRecord the assets, debts and gifts once; the tax position, the IHT deadlines, the 1975 Act window and the executor’s year are derived and watched for you.