Archive Website of the UK government

Example 1 - transferring the whole of an unused threshold

Mark dies in May 2007. He leaves an estate worth £400,000 to his wife Sharon. She dies in August 2008, leaving £600,000. When Mark died the Inheritance Tax threshold was £300,000.

When Sharon died, the threshold had gone up to £312,000, so her estate was over the threshold.

None of Mark's threshold was used when he died because he left his entire estate to his wife and he hadn't made any lifetime gifts. So Sharon's personal representatives can transfer 100 per cent of Mark's threshold to increase her threshold. They don't transfer £300,000 - the threshold when Mark died - but the percentage of the nil rate band he didn't use, ie 100 per cent. They then apply this percentage to the threshold at the time Sharon died.

So Sharon's threshold increases to £624,000, twice the 2008-09 threshold of £312,000, using 100 per cent of her nil rate band and 100 per cent of Mark's. This means there's no Inheritance Tax due on her estate.

Example 2 - transferring a threshold when the deceased made legacies to people who aren't exempt

Jamila dies in May 2007, leaving an estate worth £300,000. She leaves £40,000 to each of her three children and the rest of her estate (£180,000) to her husband Kamil. When Jamila died the Inheritance Tax threshold was £300,000.

Kamil dies in September 2009, leaving an estate worth £500,000 which he leaves equally to his three children. When Kamil died the threshold was £325,000.

The amount of Jamila's threshold that can be transferred to Kamil is:

• threshold at the time of the first death (Jamila) = £300,000
• minus the legacies to her children who aren't exempt = £120,000
• leaving a remaining threshold of £180,000

The percentage by which to increase the threshold on the second death (Kamil) is:

• the threshold remaining from Jamila's death (£180,000)
• divided by the threshold at the time of Jamila's death (£300,000)
• multiplied by 100 (£180,000 / £300,000 x 100 = 60 per cent)

So the threshold available to transfer to Kamil's estate is £325,000 x 0.6 (60 per cent) = £195,000. This is added to Kamil's own threshold of £325,000, increasing his threshold to £520,000. Because Kamil's estate is lower than this, there's no Inheritance Tax to pay.

Example 3 - transferring a threshold when the deceased made lifetime gifts and legacies to people who aren't exempt

Raj dies in May 2006, leaving an estate worth £500,000. The threshold when he died was £285,000.

Most of Raj's estate went to his wife Minal, but £100,000 went to his son. Also in 2005 Raj had made a gift to his brother of £10,000. Minal dies in November 2008, when the threshold was £312,000.

The lifetime gift uses up part of Raj's threshold first, so the amount that can be transferred to Minal is:

• threshold at the time of the first death (Raj) minus the lifetime gift = £275,000
• minus the legacy to his son who isn't exempt = £100,000
• leaving a remaining threshold of £175,000

The percentage by which to increase the threshold on the second death (Minal) is:

• the threshold remaining from Raj's death (£175,000)
• divided by the threshold at the time of Raj's death (£285,000)
• multiplied by 100 (£175,000 / £285,000 × 100 = 61.4035 per cent)

So the threshold available to transfer to Minal's estate is £312,000 x 0.614035 (61.4035 per cent) = £191,578.92. This is added to Minal's own threshold of £312,000, giving a total threshold of £503,579 (rounded up to the nearest pound).

Example 4 - transferring thresholds from more than one spouse

Owen dies in April 2007, leaving an estate worth £250,000. He gave £150,000 of this to his son Gregor and the rest (£100,000) to his wife Maria. The threshold when Owen died was £300,000.

The legacy to his son uses up 50 per cent of Owen's nil rate band, leaving 50 per cent unused and available to transfer. See the examples above for calculations.

Maria later marries Aldo, who dies in May 2008. He leaves 60 per cent of his nil rate band unused. Maria dies in June 2009, leaving an estate worth £700,000. The Inheritance Tax threshold when she died was £325,000.

Maria's personal representatives can transfer both Owen's and Aldo's unused thresholds to her to increase her own threshold. These total 110 per cent (or £357,500) but the most they can transfer is 100 per cent of the threshold when Maria died (£325,000).

So Maria's threshold is increased to £650,000, using 100 per cent of her nil rate band and the unused parts of Owen's and Aldo's, limited to £325,000.

Maria's estate of £700,000 is £50,000 more than her increased threshold of £650,000, so there's Inheritance Tax to pay on £50,000.

More useful links

• Transferring an unused Inheritance Tax threshold

• Inheritance Tax thresholds Opens new window

Useful contacts

• Probate and Inheritance Tax Helpline