After you sell: protecting the money from inheritance tax
Shares in a trading company you've owned for 2 years get business relief from inheritance tax (full relief up to £2.5 million, half above). Cash gets none. We show the bill on the money from your sale, how much of it the sale added, and what gifts, a new business or small-company shares would save.
Your answer
Enter the money from your sale to see the inheritance tax your family could face.
About this calculator
For owners who have sold their company and now hold the money. Shares in a trading company you've owned for 2 years get business relief from inheritance tax: full relief up to £2.5 million and half above it, or half from the first pound on AIM. Cash gets none, so the sale can leave a big bill.
You type in what you own and the ideas you're weighing up. We don't connect to your bank, pension or the Land Registry. We work it out as if you died today, with no growth or spending, and we leave out trusts, farm relief, the charity rate and family investment companies.
We show tax effects only. We don't recommend any investment or name any product or provider: for those, speak to a regulated financial adviser.
What happens to your answers
We don’t keep them. Your answers go to our server to do the sums and aren’t stored or logged. If you copy a link to your answers, they’re in the link itself, so only share it with people you trust.
How it’s worked out
We add up what you own and take off the tax-free amount on your estate (£325,000 each), plus the extra amount for passing on a home to your children or grandchildren (£175,000 each, cut by £1 for every £2 the estate is over £2 million). What's left is taxed at 40%.
Then we run it again with the money moved: as the old shares, into a new trading business, given away, or in small-company shares. A new business bought within about 3 years of the sale counts as replacing the old shares, so it gets relief from the day you buy it (Inheritance Tax Act 1984, section 107). After that it needs 2 years of its own.
In the example, an estate of £2.8 million (the pensions don't count yet) is over £2.35 million, so the home amount is gone. Taking off £325,000 leaves £2,475,000: a bill of £990,000. The sale added £800,000 of it. A £50,000 gift and £100,000 in small-company shares together would save £60,000.
Worked example
If you died today with the sale money in cash, your family could pay about £990,000 in inheritance tax.
2026/27 rates · death on 20 October 2026, with the estate as typed · your own tax-free amounts · home to children or grandchildren · £0 of gifts in the last 7 years · no charity rate, trusts or farm relief
| Money from the sale that you still have | £2,000,000 |
|---|---|
| Everything else you own, after debts | £150,000 |
| Your home | £650,000 |
| Your pensions: not counted yet (they count from 6 April 2027) | £0 |
| Everything you own | £2,800,000 |
| Less the tax-free amount on your estate (nil-rate band) | − £325,000 |
| Less the extra amount for passing on your home (residence nil-rate band), cut by £1 for every £2 over £2,000,000 | − £0 |
| Left to be taxed | £2,475,000 |
| Inheritance tax at 40% | £990,000 |
| If you still had the shares (£2,500,000 at full relief, 50% above), the bill would be | £190,000 |
| A gift of £50,000, if you live 7 years after it. Tax saved | £20,000 |
| Income tax relief at 30% on £100,000 of small-company shares | £30,000 |
| Those shares held 2 years, as unlisted business property. Inheritance tax saved | £40,000 |
| Inheritance tax with all of your plan in place | £930,000 |
| Your pensions add this once they count, from 6 April 2027 | £120,000 |
Worked out with the inheritance tax rates and tax-free amounts for the 2026/27 tax year, the business relief rules (Inheritance Tax Act 1984, sections 104 to 107) and the gift rules. Shows tax effects only: not investment, legal or tax advice.
Questions people ask
Why did the sale make my tax bill bigger?
Shares in a trading company you've owned for 2 years get business relief: full relief up to £2.5 million and half above it, or half on AIM. Once you sell, you hold cash, and cash gets no relief. We show how much extra tax that is.
Can I get the relief back?
Sometimes. A new trading business bought with the sale money can count as replacing the old shares. Bought within about 3 years of the sale, it gets relief from the day you buy it; later, once you've owned it 2 years. It has to qualify and be bought with the sale money, so check with us before you buy.
Does leaving the UK stop the tax?
Not straight away. If you've lived in the UK for 10 of the last 20 tax years, UK inheritance tax still covers everything you own for 3 to 10 tax years after you leave, and things in the UK stay covered. Speak to an adviser in both countries first.
Want to explore an EOT?
We’ll walk you through the basics. No pressure. No commitments.
- Free call
- Clear advice
- Real numbers
Takes 60 seconds. You’ve got nothing to lose.
