UK Inheritance Tax Calculator 2026/27
Estimate Inheritance Tax on Your Estate, Property and Lifetime Gifts
Estimate the Inheritance Tax position for a death or planning date between 6 April 2026 and 5 April 2027, including nil-rate bands, residence nil-rate band, lifetime gifts and selected agricultural/business relief assumptions.
Personal circumstances
The date of death or proposed planning date controls the tax year used. Cross-border residence and trust cases are flagged for specialist review.
Estate assets
Enter the deceased's beneficial share at open-market value on the date of death. Do not apply arbitrary discounts for joint ownership or private-company interests.
Liabilities
Only debts that are deductible for IHT should reduce the estate. Probate fees, solicitor fees and executor costs are not automatically deductible.
Exemptions, nil-rate bands and lifetime gifts
Lifetime gifts made before death
Add gifts individually so the calculator can order them chronologically. Choose only exemptions you are confident apply. “Normal expenditure out of income” and trust/gift-with-reservation cases are flagged for professional review.
Gift with reservation already represented as an estate asset
If a gifted asset is still enjoyed by the donor, it may remain in the estate. Do not enter it twice. Use this field only where the reserved asset is not already included in the estate assets above.
Agricultural / Business Property Relief and other complexity
For deaths from 6 April 2026, the combined 100% APR/BPR allowance is generally £2.5 million. Qualifying lifetime gifts from 30 October 2024 use that allowance first, oldest first; any remaining allowance is then applied to qualifying estate property, with 50% relief on qualifying value above the available allowance. Eligibility itself can be complex, so qualifying status remains a user-supplied assumption.
What is the Inheritance Tax threshold for 2026/27?
The standard nil-rate band is £325,000. A separate residence nil-rate band of up to £175,000 may also be available where a qualifying home passes to direct descendants. Unused percentages can sometimes transfer between spouses and civil partners.
How the residence nil-rate band works
The RNRB is limited by the qualifying residential interest and the value passing to direct descendants. For larger estates, it begins to taper once the relevant estate value exceeds £2 million, reducing by £1 for each £2 above that threshold.
Inheritance Tax on lifetime gifts
Gifts made more than seven years before death are generally outside the death calculation, subject to important exceptions. For gifts made within seven years, cumulative gifts normally use the nil-rate band before the death estate. Taper relief reduces tax on qualifying gifts; it does not reduce the value of the gift.
Agricultural and Business Property Relief from April 2026
From 6 April 2026, qualifying agricultural and business property that would otherwise receive 100% relief is subject to a combined £2.5 million 100% relief allowance. Qualifying value above the available allowance generally receives 50% relief, with potential transfer of unused allowance between spouses or civil partners.
Long-term UK residence and overseas assets
For deaths after 6 April 2025, the IHT scope of foreign assets is based on long-term UK residence rather than the old domicile test. Cross-border estates, overseas trusts and residence-tail rules can be complex and should be reviewed professionally.