Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Charity definition

What does Charity mean? In practice, a charity is an organisation established solely for charitable purposes to deliver public benefit, with assets held for those purposes and supervised by the courts and charity regulators. Common forms include a trust, unincorporated association or company limited by guarantee (including CIO/SCIO). Surpluses cannot be distributed to members; funds must be applied to the purposes. Political activity is permitted only as ancillary. Status determines regulatory duties and eligibility for charity tax reliefs. England and Wales: Charities Act 2011, s 1, defines a charity as an institution established for charitable purposes only and subject to High Court control;...

UK IHT: 36% reduced rate for 10%+ charitable giving—component-based calculations, merger elections, relief interactions (RNRB, APR/BPR, GROB), will drafting and post-death variations

Published by a LexisNexis Private Client expert

Practice notes

STOP PRESS :

Further to the Autumn Budget 2024 announcement on 30 October 2024, the 100% relief for APR and BPR on qualifying property will be curtailed by a combined allowance of £2.5m with effect from 6 April 2026. Refer to section 65 and Schedule 12 of the Finance Act 2026, which amend sections 104 and 116 onwards of the Inheritance tax Act 1984. See also Practice Notes: IHT—agricultural property relief and IHT—business property relief.

On death, an individual is regarded as having made a Transfer of value equal to the value of their estate immediately before death.

Exemptions from UK inheritance tax fall into three categories:

those applying only during lifetime
those available either during lifetime or on death
those applying solely on death

Most IHT exemptions can apply to both lifetime dispositions and transfers on death, including the exemption for charitable gifts. As a rule, transfers to a qualifying UK Charity or a registered amateur sports club in the UK are exempt from IHT. The charity exemption is widely relied upon and, in practice, the Personal representatives (PRs) will usually only need to provide the registered charity...

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Katya Vagner

Fladgate

Katya Vagner (Ekaterina Vagner) is an associate in the Private Client department at Fladgate.She specialises in advising on a wide range of UK and offshore private client legal and tax matters.Katya advises individuals and business owners, their families, family offices, trustees, personal representatives and charities across the globe on issues such as estate and succession planning (including Wills and inheritance tax advice), setting up and advising on onshore and offshore structures (such as trusts and foundations), incapacity planning (including Lasting Powers of Attorney and Court of Protection matters), administration of trusts and estates and issues involving charities (such as advising on charitable giving and advising charities on a range of legal and tax issues).Katya has a keen interest in ESG initiatives and has a growing charities and philanthropy practice, advising on structuring of UK and cross-border charitable giving and...

Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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