Charitable Legacies: What the UK Leaves to Charity

In the 2022 to 2023 tax year, 10,800 estates left £1.92 billion to qualifying charities and registered clubs under the inheritance tax charity exemption, making it the third-largest exemption or relief by value after the spouse or civil partner exemption and Business Property Relief (HMRC Inheritance Tax liabilities statistics, tax year 2022-23, published 31 July 2025, subject to change).

Gifts to charity in a will sit at the point where generosity and inheritance tax meet. Transfers to qualifying charities are generally exempt from inheritance tax, and an estate that leaves 10% or more of its net value to charity can pay a reduced rate on the rest (gov.uk, as at July 2026, subject to change). This piece pulls together the most recent official statistics from HMRC, alongside clearly-attributed sector research, to show how much is left, how many estates give and how the figures have moved. It sits within our estate planning guide, alongside our practical note on leaving money to charity. Every figure carries its source and reference period, and figures are current as at July 2026 and subject to change.

The headline charitable legacy numbers

Charitable legacies removed £1.92 billion of value from inheritance tax charge in the 2022 to 2023 tax year, spread across 10,800 estates (HMRC Inheritance Tax liabilities statistics, 2022-23, published 31 July 2025, subject to change). That was a fall of £0.15 billion on the £2.07 billion recorded for the 2021 to 2022 tax year, which HMRC notes is likely to have been caused in part by a change in reporting requirements across years rather than by a clear drop in giving (HMRC, 2022-23, subject to change). Set against the 683,000 UK deaths in that year, the 10,800 estates claiming the exemption represent roughly 1.6% of deaths, a proportion derived by comparing the two HMRC figures (HMRC, 2022-23, subject to change).

Key figures at a glance

Charitable giving through wills shelters close to two billion pounds a year from inheritance tax, while separate sector research values the wider legacy market at several billion pounds. The table below sets out each statistic with its source and reference period. The HMRC figures cover only the inheritance-tax charity exemption for 2022-23, while the legacy-market figures come from named sector research and cover a wider set of gifts, so the two groups are not directly comparable.

Sources: HMRC Inheritance Tax liabilities statistics (published 31 July 2025), gov.uk Inheritance Tax, and, as a clearly-attributed secondary source, the Smee & Ford and Legacy Futures Legacy Giving Report as reported by Civil Society. Figures as at July 2026 and subject to change.

Charitable legacy value over time

The inheritance tax charity exemption dipped between the two most recent tax years, from £2.07 billion in 2021-22 to £1.92 billion in 2022-23, a fall HMRC links in part to changed reporting requirements rather than a clear change in behaviour (HMRC Inheritance Tax liabilities statistics, published 31 July 2025, subject to change). Separate sector research paints a broader, longer-run picture: the Smee & Ford and Legacy Futures Legacy Giving Report put total UK legacy income at around £4.5 billion in 2024, as reported by Civil Society, a figure that covers all charitable gifts identified at probate and not only those claiming the HMRC exemption (Civil Society, reporting Smee & Ford / Legacy Futures, 2024).

Sources: HMRC Inheritance Tax liabilities statistics (published 31 July 2025) and, as a clearly-attributed secondary source, the Legacy Giving Report (Smee & Ford / Legacy Futures) as reported by Civil Society. The HMRC exemption and the total legacy market use different definitions and are not directly comparable. Figures as at July 2026 and subject to change.

The 36% reduced rate explained by the numbers

An estate that leaves 10% or more of its net value to charity can pay inheritance tax at a reduced rate of 36% on some assets, rather than the standard 40% (gov.uk, as at July 2026, subject to change). Transfers to qualifying charities are themselves generally exempt, so the gift both leaves the estate free of tax and can lower the rate applied to the remainder (gov.uk, as at July 2026, subject to change). These bands sit on top of the nil-rate band of £325,000 per person and the residence nil-rate band of up to £175,000 where a home passes to direct descendants, both frozen to the end of the 2030-31 tax year (5 April 2031). Source: gov.uk, as at July 2026, subject to change.

How the 36% rate lands depends entirely on an estate's own figures, so the effect can differ widely from one estate to another and depends on circumstances. Our note on leaving money to charity walks through how the 10% test is measured, and many people choose to check the calculation with a qualified professional before relying on it. Anyone drafting or updating their will can also see our guide on How to Write a Will for the wider context.

Read together, the data suggests charitable giving through wills is concentrated in a relatively small number of larger estates but moves a substantial sum out of inheritance tax charge each year (HMRC liabilities statistics, 2022-23, subject to change). The gap between the HMRC exemption figure and the wider legacy-market estimates reflects that they count different things, so neither on its own captures the full picture (Civil Society, reporting Smee & Ford / Legacy Futures, 2024). These are observations about published data, not predictions, and any individual estate's position depends on its own assets, debts, beneficiaries and the wording of the will.

For anyone weighing a charitable gift, many people choose to review how it interacts with the rest of their estate and, where the figures are close to the 10% test, to discuss it with a qualified professional. General reading such as our note on leaving money to charity can help frame those conversations, but it is not a substitute for advice on individual circumstances.

Sources and methodology

Every statistic on this page comes from a named source and has been checked against the current published figures. The HMRC figures relate to the 2022-23 tax year, the most recent detailed data available, and to the inheritance-tax charity exemption specifically. Sector research on the wider legacy market uses different definitions and reference years, so figures may not be directly comparable. Where a figure comes from a report rather than official statistics, it is marked as a secondary source.

• HMRC Inheritance Tax liabilities statistics (published 31 July 2025), tax year 2022-23: value and number of estates claiming the charity exemption, the prior-year comparison, total UK deaths, and where the exemption ranks among reliefs. gov.uk
• gov.uk Inheritance Tax: the standard 40% rate, the 36% reduced rate where 10% or more of the net estate is left to charity, and the charity exemption. gov.uk
• gov.uk / HM Treasury, Autumn Budget 2024: the nil-rate band of £325,000 and residence nil-rate band of £175,000 fixed to the end of the 2030-31 tax year (5 April 2031). gov.uk
• Remember A Charity / Savanta (published 27 August 2025): survey of 500 individuals with over £1 million in investable assets on the prevalence of charitable legacies. Used as clearly-attributed secondary research on stated intentions. rememberacharity.org.uk
• Smee & Ford and Legacy Futures, Legacy Giving Report (2024 data), as reported by Civil Society: estimated total UK legacy income. Used as a clearly-attributed secondary source, not an official statistic. civilsociety.co.uk

All figures are current as at July 2026 and are subject to change. Statistics are quoted as published; the roughly 1.6% share of deaths is derived by comparing two figures in the same HMRC publication and nothing else on this page has been estimated, extrapolated or rounded beyond the source.

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