How Much Can You Inherit Without Paying Tax in the UK?
In most cases you can inherit up to £325,000 from an estate before any Inheritance Tax is due, rising to £500,000 if a qualifying home is left to children or grandchildren, and up to £1 million for a married couple or civil partners.
These figures are the nil-rate bands for the 2026/27 tax year, and they are frozen at these levels for the next few years. The standard nil-rate band is £325,000, and anything above it is taxed at 40% (or 36% if at least 10% of the estate goes to charity).
The £500,000 figure is not automatic. It only applies when the Residence Nil-Rate Band of £175,000 is added, and that extra allowance is only available when a main home passes to direct descendants. Leave the home to someone other than children or grandchildren and it can be lost.
Married couples and civil partners get the most generous treatment. Anything left to a spouse or civil partner is exempt from IHT, and any unused threshold passes to the survivor. That is how a couple can pass on up to £1 million between them.
One point that often causes confusion: as a beneficiary, you do not normally pay Inheritance Tax yourself. It is paid from the estate by the executor before anything reaches you. So the real question is usually how much an estate can pass on before tax is due, not how much you personally receive.
For more, see my guides on whether you have to inform HMRC if you inherit money and what is considered a large inheritance in the UK.
These figures are the nil-rate bands for the 2026/27 tax year, and they are frozen at these levels for the next few years. The standard nil-rate band is £325,000, and anything above it is taxed at 40% (or 36% if at least 10% of the estate goes to charity).
The £500,000 figure is not automatic. It only applies when the Residence Nil-Rate Band of £175,000 is added, and that extra allowance is only available when a main home passes to direct descendants. Leave the home to someone other than children or grandchildren and it can be lost.
Married couples and civil partners get the most generous treatment. Anything left to a spouse or civil partner is exempt from IHT, and any unused threshold passes to the survivor. That is how a couple can pass on up to £1 million between them.
One point that often causes confusion: as a beneficiary, you do not normally pay Inheritance Tax yourself. It is paid from the estate by the executor before anything reaches you. So the real question is usually how much an estate can pass on before tax is due, not how much you personally receive.
For more, see my guides on whether you have to inform HMRC if you inherit money and what is considered a large inheritance in the UK.