Every tax year, you can give away up to £3,000 completely free of inheritance tax — no seven-year wait, no taper relief, no conditions beyond the amount. It's one of the simplest tools available for reducing your estate, and one of the most commonly underused.
What the annual exemption covers
The annual exemption allows you to give away up to £3,000 per tax year (6 April to 5 April) and have that amount immediately and permanently outside your estate for inheritance tax purposes. It can be:
- Given to one person in a single gift
- Split across several people
- Combined with other exemptions in some cases
The exemption applies to the total you give, not per recipient. So if you give £1,500 to one child and £1,500 to another, you have used your full annual exemption for that year.
Carrying forward unused allowance
If you don't use your full £3,000 in one tax year, you can carry the unused portion forward — but only into the following tax year, and only after you have used the current year's allowance first. This means the maximum you can ever give in a single year under this exemption is £6,000.
For example: if you gave nothing in 2023/24, you could give £6,000 in 2024/25 — £3,000 for the current year and £3,000 carried forward. You cannot carry forward more than one year.
Combining with other exemptions
The annual exemption can be combined with certain other exemptions to increase the amount you give free of tax in a given year. Common combinations include:
- Wedding gifts: if a child is getting married, you can give them a £5,000 wedding gift exemption plus your £3,000 annual exemption — up to £8,000 in total, immediately exempt.
- Small gifts: you can give additional £250 small gifts to other individuals in the same year, as long as you haven't used the annual exemption for those same people.
Record every gift on EverLedge — and see what's exempt at a glance
EverLedge tracks which gifts are covered by the annual exemption and which are PETs, so you and your executors always have a clear record.
What happens if you give more than £3,000
Any amount above your annual exemption (and any other applicable exemptions) becomes a Potentially Exempt Transfer — a PET. That portion is not immediately exempt; it only escapes inheritance tax if you survive seven years from the date of the gift. This is not necessarily a problem — making PETs is often a deliberate and sensible strategy — but it does mean the gift needs to be recorded carefully.
Why acting early matters
The annual exemption resets every tax year, but you cannot recover unused years beyond the one-year carry-forward. If you wait until you are in poor health to start giving, the seven-year clock on any PETs you make may not run in your favour. Starting regular giving earlier — even modest amounts — is almost always more effective than a large gift made late.
In short
- You can give away £3,000 per tax year free of inheritance tax — immediately and permanently.
- Unused allowance can be carried forward by one year only, up to a maximum of £6,000.
- It can be combined with wedding gift exemptions and small gift exemptions.
- Anything above the exemption becomes a PET and requires a seven-year survival period.
- Starting early makes the annual exemption significantly more powerful over time.
This article is general information about UK inheritance tax and is not personal or legal advice. Rules and thresholds can change. Consider speaking to a qualified adviser about your own circumstances.