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Section 8A: Transfer of unused nil-rate band between spouses and civil partners

Inheritance Tax Act 1984 · 1984 c. 51View on legislation.gov.uk

Part I: GENERAL

This section applies where—

immediately before the death of a person (a "deceased person"), the deceased person had a spouse or civil partner ("the survivor"), and
the deceased person had unused nil-rate band on death.

A person has unused nil-rate band on death if—

Where a claim is made under this section, the nil-rate band maximum at the time of the survivor's death is to be treated for the purposes of the charge to tax on the death of the survivor as increased by the percentage specified in subsection (4) below (but subject to subsection (5) and section 8C below).

That percentage is—

If (apart from this subsection) the amount of the increase in the nil-rate band maximum at the time of the survivor's death effected by this section would exceed the amount of that nil-rate band maximum, the amount of the increase is limited to the amount of that nil-rate band maximum.

Subsection (5) above may apply either—

because the percentage mentioned in subsection (4) above (as reduced under section 8C below where that section applies) is more than 100 because of the amount by which M is greater than VT in the case of one deceased person, or
because this section applies in relation to the survivor by reference to the death of more than one person who had unused nil-rate band on death.

In this Act "nil-rate band maximum" means the amount shown in the second column in the first row of the Table in Schedule 1 to this Act (upper limit of portion of value charged at rate of nil per cent.) and in the first column in the second row of that Table (lower limit of portion charged at next rate).

About this text

This legislation text comes from legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. These source and reuse terms cover the legislation text, not Remedy's commentary.

Reuse reviewed 21 August 2026 under Open Government Licence v3.0.