Finance & Money
On a £500,000 estate with just the £325,000 nil-rate band, the estimated Inheritance Tax is £70,000 (40% of £175,000). Add the residence band and any transferred allowance below.
Inheritance Tax (IHT) is charged on someone’s estate after they’ve died (property, money and possessions) above certain tax-free thresholds. For lots of families there’s nothing to pay, either because the estate is within the nil-rate band or because everything above it goes to a spouse, civil partner or charity.
This free calculator gives you a rough estimate using the standard nil-rate band (£325,000), the residence nil-rate band (up to £175,000 when a main home is left to direct descendants), any allowance transferred from a late spouse or civil partner, and the usual 40% rate (or 36% if you tick the reduced rate). Under current published policy, those thresholds are frozen through 2030/31.
Here’s the catch: it’s deliberately simple. Lifetime gifts in the seven years before death, trusts, business or agricultural relief, downsizing additions and a full HMRC account aren’t included. Use it to try out scenarios, then confirm with GOV.UK guidance and a solicitor or tax adviser. The maths all runs in your browser, so nothing’s stored on our servers.
For the full explanation, read How UK Inheritance Tax is calculated (2026/27) or How UK Capital Gains Tax is calculated (2026/27).
UK IHT thresholds · 2026/27 (thresholds frozen to 2030/31)
Assets less debts and liabilities (gross estate for RNRB taper)
Children, grandchildren, step-children etc. — not nieces/nephews
Extra allowance only if a qualifying home (or share) passes to direct descendants
Usually exempt from Inheritance Tax
For property purchase tax on the way into the family, see the stamp duty calculator. For retirement and income planning while you are alive, try the take-home pay calculator.
Examples you can read without entering anything. Use your own figures for a personal estimate.
Matches the classic GOV.UK-style example: single person, no residence band claimed.
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IHT is only charged on the slice above the available threshold, not on the whole estate.
Adds the residence nil-rate band when a main home goes to direct descendants.
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Combined tax-free allowance £500,000. RNRB is capped at the lower of £175,000 and the home value left to descendants.
Survivor’s estate with 100% unused NRB and RNRB transferred from a late spouse, home to children.
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Illustrates the well-known ‘up to £1 million’ couple position when full unused allowances transfer and a home goes to direct descendants. Real estates need formal transfer claims.
Shows how the residence nil-rate band shrinks once the estate exceeds £2 million.
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£100,000 over the £2m taper threshold reduces RNRB by £50,000 (£1 for every £2). Full taper removes RNRB by £2.35m for a single £175,000 band (higher if transferred RNRB applies).
The table uses the £325,000 nil-rate band, the £175,000 residence nil-rate band (when a home worth at least that much goes to children or grandchildren), the taper that removes £1 of residence band for every £2 an estate is worth over £2 million, and the 40% rate. The last column is a widow, widower or surviving civil partner whose late partner left everything to them, so both sets of bands pass to this estate and the home is worth at least £350,000.
So a £400,000 estate with no home going to direct descendants pays £30,000, and nothing if a home of at least £75,000 goes to them. On £1 million the bill is £270,000 with no home to descendants, £200,000 with one, and nothing on the second death of a couple who both had full bands. A £2.2 million estate keeps only £75,000 of a single residence band, or £250,000 of a couple’s combined £350,000.
Gifts made in the 7 years before death, reliefs such as Business Relief, and debts all change the figures. The calculator above handles gifts to a spouse or charity, transferred bands and the 36% rate for estates leaving 10% or more to charity.
| Estate | Single, no home to descendants | Single, home to children or grandchildren | Surviving spouse, both partners’ bands |
|---|---|---|---|
| £400,000 | £30,000 | £0 | £0 |
| £500,000 | £70,000 | £0 | £0 |
| £600,000 | £110,000 | £40,000 | £0 |
| £750,000 | £170,000 | £100,000 | £0 |
| £1,000,000 | £270,000 | £200,000 | £0 |
| £1,500,000 | £470,000 | £400,000 | £200,000 |
| £2,000,000 | £670,000 | £600,000 | £400,000 |
| £2,200,000 | £750,000 | £720,000 | £520,000 |
| £2,500,000 | £870,000 | £870,000 | £700,000 |
Everyone has a basic nil-rate band — currently £325,000 — charged at 0%. Only the part of the chargeable estate above the available threshold is taxed, usually at 40%. If you leave a main residence (or a qualifying share or sale proceeds in some cases) to direct descendants such as children or grandchildren, you may also get a residence nil-rate band of up to £175,000. That can take a single person’s combined allowance to £500,000.
Married couples and civil partners can often transfer unused nil-rate and residence allowances to the survivor. In simple cases where the first estate uses none of either band and the survivor leaves a home to direct descendants, the combined position can reach £1 million — but transfer percentages, taper and how the home is left all matter. This calculator lets you enter transfer percentages rather than reconstructing a full first-death account.
Gifts to a spouse or civil partner (when both are UK-domiciled under the rules that apply) and to qualifying charities are generally exempt and reduce the chargeable estate. Leaving 10% or more of the baseline amount to charity can cut the rate on the rest of the estate to 36% — tick that option only when you understand the formal rules.
The residence nil-rate band isn’t a blanket home exemption. It’s an extra nil-rate amount applied to the estate when the conditions are met, limited by the value of the home that actually goes to direct descendants. If the home is worth less than the maximum RNRB, only the home value counts on that death (unused RNRB may still transfer to a spouse).
For estates worth more than £2 million (assets less liabilities, before many exemptions), the available RNRB is reduced by £1 for every £2 above £2 million. Large estates can lose the residence band entirely. Taper uses a broad estate measure — this tool uses the estate value you enter for both tax and taper, which is a planning simplification.
Lifetime gifts (potentially exempt transfers) in the seven years before death, gift with reservation of benefit rules, trusts, business and agricultural property relief, foreign assets, domicile / long-term residence changes, and downsizing additions are outside this model. Executors still need to value the estate properly and may need to file with HMRC even when no tax is due.
Treat every result as a rough estimate for education and scenario planning. For a real estate, use GOV.UK guidance, HMRC forms and professional advice.
Check rates, bands and eligibility on these official pages before you rely on a figure.