Residence nil rate band transfer

Advice on the following would be appreciated:

Mr X recently died leaving a child who inherits the whole estate, which included a property. The gross estate is worth £2.36m

He was widowed and when his wife died her estate was worth well below £2m and all passed to Mr X.

We can’t claim RNRB for Mr X as the estate is over £2.35m but can we claim the £175,000 for his late wife??

I’m going round in circles trying to find the answer.

Many thanks in advance.

Anne Duguid

I think the legislation is highly convoluted and difficult to unravel. My understanding is as follows:

Mr X’s residual entitlement is equal to £175k plus brought forward allowance of £175k ie £350k.

However, this £350k is reduced by £180k (ie excess over taper threshold of £2m of £2.36 then divided by 2) giving an adjusted allowance of £170k [£350k less £180k] .

Malcolm Finney

Thank you Malcolm.

On the assumption the wife’s is available I have used the RNRB calculator which suggests that we have an allowance of £172,210 which is just about in line with what you have said.

I think I’ll use this figure and I’m sure HMRC will tell me if I’m wrong!

Thank you again

Anne

My figure for the adjusted allowance is £170k. The RNRB then needs to be ascertained on the facts. This is the maximum the RNRB can be. I’m therefore a bit mystified as to how the HMRC calculator (which I confess I’ve never used) has produced a larger figure?

Malcolm Finney