Capital Gains Tax on Inherited Assets: The Data

In most cases there is no Capital Gains Tax to pay at the moment you inherit an asset. Inheritance Tax, where it applies, is usually settled by the estate, and inherited assets are treated as acquired at their market value on the date of death. Capital Gains Tax can arise later, if a beneficiary sells an inherited asset that has risen in value since then.

That distinction shapes the data. There is no single official figure for "Capital Gains Tax on inherited assets", because HMRC does not publish CGT split out that way. What the statistics do show is the overall scale of CGT, the far larger role of Inheritance Tax at the point of death, and how the two taxes interact. Figures below are drawn from named HMRC and Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) releases and are current as at July 2026, subject to change.

Why there is usually no Capital Gains Tax when you inherit

When someone dies, the assets in their estate are treated for Capital Gains Tax as acquired at their market value on the date of death, and there is generally no chargeable gain or allowable loss at that point (gov.uk, tax on things you inherit, as at July 2026, subject to change). A beneficiary who later sells may pay CGT, but only on any increase in value since the date of death, not on the whole lifetime gain.

This is often called the "uplift" or rebasing. It means the tax that typically applies at death is Inheritance Tax rather than Capital Gains Tax. Current CGT rates for individuals are 18% within the basic-rate band and 24% above it, with a 24% rate for personal representatives and trustees, and an annual exempt amount of £3,000 for the 2026 to 2027 tax year (gov.uk, CGT rates and allowances, as at July 2026, subject to change).

Key figures at a glance

The table below brings together the headline official numbers on Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax. Each row is a published statistic with its source, reference period and a link. Capital Gains Tax is a much smaller and more concentrated tax than income tax, and Inheritance Tax touches a minority of estates, though both are forecast to raise more over time.

Nil-rate band £325,000 per person, residence nil-rate band up to £175,000, standard IHT rate 40%, all frozen to the end of the 2030-31 tax year (5 April 2031) (gov.uk/inheritance-tax, as at July 2026, subject to change).

Capital Gains Tax over time

Capital Gains Tax receipts rose steeply into the early 2020s and have since fallen back. The total CGT liability reached a recent high of about £17.0 billion in 2021 to 2022 before easing to £12.1 billion in 2023 to 2024 (HMRC CGT statistics, updated 24 July 2025, subject to change). The number of people paying it remains far smaller than for income tax.

Source: HMRC Capital Gains Tax statistics, updated 24 July 2025. Figures rounded to the nearest £0.1 billion and 1,000 taxpayers, subject to change.

CGT is also highly concentrated. In 2023 to 2024, 40% of Capital Gains Tax came from the small group who made gains of £5 million or more, who were fewer than 1% of CGT taxpayers, and 48% of gains came from the 14% of liable individuals with taxable incomes above £150,000 (HMRC CGT statistics, updated 24 July 2025, subject to change).

Inheritance Tax: the tax that usually applies on death

Because of the uplift on death, the tax that most often affects inherited wealth is Inheritance Tax, not Capital Gains Tax, as our Inheritance Tax Explained guide sets out in more detail. In the 2022 to 2023 tax year, 31,500 estates had an IHT charge, 4.62% of the 683,000 UK deaths that year, with total liabilities of £6.70 billion and an average of £212,000 per taxpaying estate (HMRC IHT liabilities statistics, updated 31 July 2025, subject to change).

Source: HMRC Inheritance Tax liabilities statistics, 2022 to 2023, updated 31 July 2025, subject to change.

Receipts, which are counted when the tax is actually paid rather than by tax year of death, are higher and rising. HMRC recorded £8.5 billion of IHT receipts in 2025 to 2026 (HMRC tax receipts bulletin, updated 19 June 2026, subject to change), and the OBR forecast IHT to raise £8.7 billion in the same year (OBR inheritance tax forecast, updated 9 February 2026, subject to change).

What the numbers mean

Read together, the data suggests that for most families the tax question on death is about Inheritance Tax and the nil-rate bands, not Capital Gains Tax. CGT tends to matter later, and mainly for beneficiaries who hold an inherited asset and sell it once it has grown in value. That is a narrower group, and one the published statistics do not isolate.

A few observations follow from the figures, offered as general analysis rather than advice. First, the uplift on death removes the lifetime gain from the CGT net, so an asset sold soon after death may show little taxable gain (gov.uk, as at July 2026, subject to change). Where a beneficiary holds on for years, more of the growth can fall within CGT, at 18% or 24% depending on their income (gov.uk, CGT rates, as at July 2026, subject to change). Second, IHT reaches a minority of estates today, 4.62% in 2022 to 2023, but that share has been edging up (HMRC, updated 31 July 2025, subject to change), and the OBR expects receipts to keep growing (OBR, updated 9 February 2026, subject to change), partly because the main thresholds are frozen while asset values rise. How the two taxes interact is covered in our note on inheritance and capital gains tax, and both sit inside the wider estate planning guide. How any of this applies to a particular estate depends on its assets and timing, so it can be worth discussing with a qualified professional.

The headline tax on inherited wealth is usually Inheritance Tax at death. Capital Gains Tax tends to surface later, when a beneficiary sells an asset that has grown since the date of death.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax are set at UK level, so the rates, allowances and the uplift on death described here apply across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (gov.uk, as at July 2026, subject to change). What differs is succession law. Scotland has its own rules, including legal rights that can give a spouse and children a fixed share of an estate, which can change who receives an asset and when a later disposal happens. Northern Ireland broadly follows England and Wales.

Sources and methodology

Every statistic on this page comes from a named official source and was checked against the live release in July 2026. No figures have been estimated or extrapolated beyond what the source states, and there is no official breakdown of Capital Gains Tax attributable specifically to inherited assets, so none is claimed here.

• HMRC, Capital Gains Tax statistics: commentary (2023 to 2024 tax year and historical series, updated 24 July 2025).
• HMRC, Inheritance Tax liabilities statistics: commentary (2022 to 2023 tax year, updated 31 July 2025).
• HMRC, tax receipts and National Insurance contributions (annual bulletin) (IHT receipts 2025 to 2026, updated 19 June 2026).
• Office for Budget Responsibility, Inheritance tax forecast (updated 9 February 2026).
• gov.uk, Capital Gains Tax rates and allowances and Tax on property, money and shares you inherit (as at July 2026).
• gov.uk, Inheritance Tax (thresholds and rates, as at July 2026).

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