The Inheritance Tax threshold checker
Whether an estate owes Inheritance Tax turns on its threshold, and the threshold is not one number. It is £325,000, plus £175,000 where the home goes to children or grandchildren, plus whatever share of both a late spouse did not use. Three questions and this works out the figure that applies, and which side of it the estate falls.
Three questions about the estate as it would stand today. Round figures are fine; the result is a threshold and which side of it the estate falls, not a bill.
Everything owned, including the home and savings, less debts and the funeral, plus gifts made in the last seven years above the annual exemptions.In pounds, for example 450000 or 450k. Count only the person's own share of anything owned jointly, half for equal joint owners. Leave pensions out for a death before 6 April 2027 and include unused pension funds from that date.
Worked out on your device. Nothing is sent anywhere.
What it decides, and from where
The figures are GOV.UK's, checked 13 September 2026: the £325,000 threshold and the £175,000 residence nil rate band for a home left to direct descendants (GOV.UK), capped at the value of the home passing and reduced by £1 for every £2 the estate is worth over £2 million (GOV.UK guidance), and the transfer of a late spouse's unused percentage of both (GOV.UK guidance). Everything left to a spouse or civil partner is exempt, so that answer ends the check. The pension change from 6 April 2027 is on our pensions page.
Our Inheritance Tax hub sets each rule out with its source, and the transferable allowance page covers the claim that adds the late spouse's share.
What it will not do
It will not state a tax figure: the 40% rate on the part above the threshold, and the 36% rate where a tenth goes to charity, are on the hub with their source, and the multiplication is the executor's, on the estate's real figures. It does not value the estate, decide who counts as a direct descendant, or deal with trusts, business or agricultural relief, or the downsizing addition. Gifts in the seven years before death only count if you have added them to the estate value.
Common questions
Does this tell me how much Inheritance Tax will be due?
No. It works out the threshold that applies from GOV.UK's figures, £325,000 plus up to £175,000 for a home left to direct descendants plus a late spouse's unused share, and says whether the estate is under or over it and by how much. The rate on the part above is on the hub page; this page does not multiply.
What should I include in the estate value?
GOV.UK says to estimate the value of everything the person owned on the day they died, less debts, plus gifts made in the seven years before, and any trusts they benefited from. A home owned as joint tenants with a spouse counts at half. Pensions are outside the estate until 6 April 2027 and inside it after.
Why does it ask what share of the late spouse's allowances was unused?
Because GOV.UK says the unused percentage transfers, not the amount. A husband who left everything to his wife used none, so 100% transfers. One who left £65,000 to the children against a £325,000 threshold used 20%, so 80% transfers. The same percentage is applied to the home allowance. Our transferable allowance page covers the claim.
Is anything I enter stored?
No. The figures stay in your browser, nothing is transmitted or logged, and closing the tab discards them. There is no account and no email box. The result is a threshold, GOV.UK's sentences that produce it, and links to the pages that set out each rule with its source.
An estate over its threshold has six months to pay and can spread the tax on a house over ten years; our paying the bill page covers both. Gifts made in life are on the gifts page, and the gifts timeline plots them against the seven years.