This calculator estimates the inheritance tax on your estate using 2026/27 thresholds: a £325,000 nil-rate band (2026/27, frozen to 5 April 2031), a £175,000 residence nil-rate band (2026/27, frozen to 5 April 2031) where your home passes to children or grandchildren, and tax at 40%, or 36% if you leave 10% or more of your net estate to charity. It gives you two answers side by side: your position today, and your position for deaths on or after 6 April 2027, when unused pension pots join the taxable estate under Finance Act 2026. Vision Consulting is a London firm of ICAEW Chartered Accountants, licensed by the ICAEW for non-contentious probate.
Reviewed by Chloe Symmonds, Senior ManagerLast updated July 2026Figures: 2026/27, sourced from GOV.UK
How to use it
Enter your share of your home, your other assets, any unused defined contribution pension pots, and your debts and mortgage. Tick the boxes that apply.
If you are widowed and your late spouse or civil partner left everything to you, choose the widowed option: both allowances can double, to £650,000 and £350,000 (2026/27).
Press the button and read both columns.
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Estimate your inheritance tax
Inheritance Tax · 2026/27
What might your estate owe?
Estimate your inheritance tax now, and under the rules that bring unused pensions into your estate from April 2027. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Married couples normally pay no tax on the first death — assets passing to a spouse or civil partner are exempt. The bill usually falls on the second death: to estimate that, choose "Widowed" and enter the couple's combined estate.
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Today (2026/27)
Deaths on or after 6 April 2027
Not modelled: the spouse/civil partner exemption on the first death, trusts, business or agricultural property (including the £2.5m relief allowance from 6 April 2026), gifts made in the last 7 years, and foreign assets. Estimates only, on 2026/27 thresholds. Sources: GOV.UK: Inheritance Tax and HMRC's pensions technical note. This is an estimate for general information, not advice.
Why there are two columns
Finance Act 2026 (Royal Assent 18 March 2026) brings unused pension funds and death benefits into the inheritance tax estate for deaths on or after 6 April 2027, with personal representatives responsible for reporting and paying. For many families this is the single biggest change to estate values in a generation, which is why the calculator shows it explicitly rather than hiding it in a footnote. Source: HMRC's technical note on inheritance tax and pensions, on GOV.UK.
What the calculator assumes, and what it leaves out
It applies the residence nil-rate band only where the home passes to direct descendants, caps it at the value of the home, and tapers it by £1 for every £2 the net estate exceeds £2 million. It does not model:
Trusts.
Business or agricultural property (including the £2.5 million APR/BPR relief allowance that applies from 6 April 2026).
Gifts made in the last 7 years.
Foreign assets. If any of those apply to you, the real answer can be very different.
Figures are correct as at July 2026; the authority is GOV.UK: Inheritance Tax.
Frequently asked questions
Whatever percentage of the £325,000 nil-rate band (2026/27) your late spouse or civil partner did not use can be transferred to your estate, up to a maximum of 100%, giving up to £650,000. The same applies to the £175,000 residence nil-rate band, giving up to £350,000. Your executors claim the transfer after your death. This calculator assumes a full 100% transfer when you pick the widowed option; a partial transfer needs a manual calculation.
The residence nil-rate band tapers away by £1 for every £2 your net estate exceeds £2 million. A single person's £175,000 (2026/27) is fully gone at about £2.35 million. From 6 April 2027 unused pensions count toward that estate value, so a pension can taper away an allowance the house had previously secured.
For deaths on or after 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds and death benefits form part of the estate for inheritance tax (Finance Act 2026). Personal representatives, not pension scheme administrators, are responsible for reporting and paying the tax. Death-in-service benefits and dependants' scheme pensions are among the exclusions; the detail sits in HMRC's technical note on inheritance tax and pensions.
If you leave at least 10% of your net estate (broadly, the estate after allowances and exemptions) to UK charity, the rest of the taxable estate is charged at 36% instead of 40%. The calculator applies 36% when you tick the charity box; whether your will actually meets the 10% test needs checking against the statutory formula.
Yes, and the calculator deliberately does not model them. Gifts within 7 years of death can use up your nil-rate band before the estate gets it, and gifts over the nil-rate band attract their own tapered tax charge. Keep a record of what you give and when, and take advice if you have made substantial gifts.
Speak to an expert
Chloe Symmonds
Senior Manager · Inheritance tax, estates and probate
