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Inheritance Tax

What Gifts are Exempt from Inheritance Tax?

Not all gifts made during a person’s lifetime are subject to Inheritance Tax when they die. A number of specific exemptions mean that certain types of gift fall completely outside the IHT calculation.

Why gifts matter for IHT

Gifts made in the seven years before death are potentially chargeable as part of the estate. But gifts qualifying for an exemption are excluded entirely. Accurately identifying exempt gifts is an important part of getting the IHT400 right.

Key gift exemptions (an overview)

Annual gift exemption

Each person can give away a set amount per tax year free of IHT. Unused annual exemption from the previous year can also be carried forward once.

Small gifts exemption

Outright gifts up to a certain amount per recipient per tax year are also exempt. No limit on the number of recipients.

Gifts for weddings and civil partnerships

Gifts made on the occasion of a marriage or civil partnership are exempt up to amounts that vary by relationship.

Normal expenditure out of income

Gifts forming part of regular expenditure from income (not capital) that do not reduce the giver’s standard of living may qualify as exempt. The rules are detailed and require careful supporting evidence.

Gifts between spouses and civil partners

Generally exempt from IHT, provided the recipient is UK-domiciled.

Gifts to charity

Gifts to qualifying UK charities are exempt, with no upper limit.

YouCanDoProbate captures gift information through a structured gifts section and applies the appropriate exemptions automatically from your answers.

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Trustpilot five star rating
I am so glad that I chose to invest in…

I am so glad that I chose to invest in this software. It is a simple tool which guides you through the process in a very clear way. Firstly you can input the required information about the estate (which you would have to collate and provide to a solicitor anyway) and it then determines which forms need to be populated to apply for probate (and inheritance tax), and populates them correctly. It has saved us a lot of time and money . The customer support team are very knowledgeable, helpful and friendly, and easy to get hold of. Thank you for making this a smooth process at a difficult time. Our grant of probate was received today which was only 5-6 weeks after receipt of the application by the probate office at a time where the probate office are quoting 8 week lead times to acknowledge probate application receipt.

Hilary Spain
Trustpilot five star rating
Brilliant

I can’t believe how incredibly smooth the probate process was with this company! I was on the verge of hiring a solicitor, which would have cost me a small fortune. Every probate case is unique, but in my situation, everything was wrapped up in just 15 days. From the moment I filled out the easy “you-can-do-probate” form, to sending it off to HMRC, I was amazed at how quickly I received the email confirming that probate had been granted. I genuinely can’t recommend this company enough! If I could, I’d give them 10 stars without hesitation!

Teresa OConnor
Trustpilot five star rating
Excellent! I wish I had found sooner

So, so easy. I wish I had found sooner as I put off doing probate thinking it would be bad but it was fine. I got a bit stuck and had a quick call and then all went through smoothly. Thank you, I would definitely recommend to all.

Carol Fennell
Trustpilot five star rating
90 years old Computer Dummy & Dyslectic

Being 90 years old found the prospect of applying for probate extremely daunting, the registrar of deaths told me to approach the “Bereavement Support Group” who in turn informed me of the web site to down load forms from, this I achieved (all 22pages), and commenced to fill in the answers required, got stuck on one question but the system would then not let me to advance to stage 2 until all was 100% on stage 1. Then phoned “You Can Do Probate” and a gentleman then proceeded to not only help with the unanswered question in Stage.1 but over the next two hours took me thro all the other stages, after which he told me to read very carefully thro the answers for any typo’s or anything not to my liking and to phone him (Giving me his personal phone no) if so. there was one item I was not happy with so made contact again, and he then very carefully took me thro the procedure to make these changes (could never achieved by myself) Then on the 24th July mailed all pages to the Probate Service and on the 14th August received my Probate Certificates Wunderbar

John William Dennis Symonds
Trustpilot five star rating
An Excellant service

An Excellant service. I made good use of the advice given in the app which made the process simple and unbelievably it was granted by the HMCTS just four working days after it was delivered to them. Admittedly it was a relatively simple estate but definitely worth considering using this app rather than very expensive solicitors.

Garry Brisdion
Trustpilot five star rating
Makes everything really simple

Makes everything really simple. Got probate granted in 2 weeks!

Andre
Trustpilot five star rating
It was all clear and concise…

It was all clear and concise instructions. You could leave the site at anytime and all your work is saved so you can go back to where you left off. The only negative I feel is that it doesn’t tell you until the end that you have to pay more money which was abit of a shock so maybe you could just make your applicants aware that it isn’t just £399. Thankyou though still as it only took 3 weeks to get the probate done and to become the administrator of my mums estate.

W.m.porteous
Trustpilot five star rating
YouCanDoProbate.

YouCanDoProbate were very helpful when things needed explaining a little more, The questionnaire needed a bit of research to get the information needed but overall things went smoothly.

Maxi
Trustpilot five star rating
Posted the completed Probate form and received the Grant of Probate letter 4 working days later…amazing service.

This was the first Probate I’d applied for. Initially, I assumed I’d have no choice but to go via a solicitor who would have asked me to gather all the information required yet charge thousands of pounds for the service. After carrying out further research online, I came across the YouCanDoProbate website, read their Trustpilot reviews and made some other sensible checks. I phoned them and had an initial conversation with Tom who was friendly and knowledgeable and asked several questions about the estate (it was over the individual IHT threshold but would be using the Transferable Nil Rate Band of a pre-deceased spouse) and he confirmed the platform would be able to deal with this. I was a little nervous initially about whether this was the right way forward but decided to go for it, signed up and paid the £499 fee which gave me access to the platform via my usual web browser so no special software needed. From then on, it was a relatively straightforward administrative task of putting in the information required. I loved that it saved all the information so that if I was interrupted or had to stop, I could just go back to it later and pick up where I’d left off. It went through the estate details very logically – personal info of all those involved – the deceased, pre-deceased spouse, executors, beneficiaries then assets, liabilities, expenses, gifts etc. After filling in all the required information, the platform then generated the Estate Summary (in my case showing there was no inheritance tax to pay and confirming that I didn’t have to fill in a separate form to send to HMRC). It had autofilled all the relevant information I’d input in the previous sections and made all the calculations for me with a detailed breakdown as to how the figures were arrived at. When I needed help and a bit of reassurance on 4 occasions via support ticket email, requesting a callback for a specific time or calling directly, Adam and Tom answered my queries quickly and knowledgeably and I was fully reassured that the forms had been completed correctly. Once I was satisfied with the Estate Summary details, I was able to move on and the system generated the autofilled Probate form which I could download and print off for review before signing. If anything needed to be amended, it was possible to go back and do so throughout the entire process before completing one stage and moving on to another. While I chose to complete the forms over the course of several days, I think it would be possible to complete the whole process in a few hours if there were no interruptions. On Thurs 28th May, I posted off the PA1P probate form with all the other relevant documents required including the probate fee postal orders (so no time waiting for a cheque to clear). I used the 1st class Royal Mail tracked service which was delivered the next day. I received an acknowledgement of receipt email on Mon 1 June with a reference number, another email on Tues 2 June confirming that Probate had been approved and, finally, on Thurs 4 June, I received the Grant of Probate letter in the post, 4 working days after sending off the application. I was expecting to have to wait 3 or 4 months for a response and am truly amazed at the speed of the turnaround. I cannot thank YouCanDoProbate enough. It is an amazing service, worth every penny of the £499 cost and I highly recommend it.

JA
Trustpilot five star rating
Easy step by step process

I was so happy I found YouCanDoProbate. I did not even know where to start with this process but as soon as you register with them on line (and pay the fee) it guides you through step by step. You then just print off the the forms and send them off. It made a complicated system really simple for us.

Lucia
Trustpilot five star rating
I found the platform very helpful

I found the platform very helpful. I was especially impressed with the help desk capability – very timely and helpful.

Mike
Trustpilot five star rating
You Can Do Probate yourself

Simple to use the online tools and help to complete my application

peter.c
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Additional costs: The probate registry fee of £526 (for all estates over £5,000) and any additional official copies at £2 each. (Payable directly to HM Courts and Tribunals Service by cheque or postal order, enclosed with your application forms).
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© YouCanDoProbate • YouCanDoProbate is a trading name of Kabing Ltd.
YouCanDoProbate is an online platform providing legal forms and information. YouCanDoProbate is not a law firm and is not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Our online probate and inheritance tax service is an online platform providing probate and inheritance tax forms and information to allow you to complete inheritance tax returns and apply for probate yourself. Our telephone, email and livechat support provides guidance only, we do not provide bespoke advice, including estate planning or tax advice and it is not a substitute for a lawyer’s advice about complex estate planning or tax issues.
© Kabing Ltd | All Rights Reserved. Company number 12125399.

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