what is the maximum amount of inheritance without paying tax?

Answer 1

A single person can leave £300,000 before it is taxed. Married person can leave any amount to their spouse with out paying tax. When the remaining partner dies, both £300k allowances are used (less any used at the time of the first death) before tax.

Hope that makes sense. It was only changed last week so no real experience of how it works yet.

Answer 2

It depends on what you inherit. If the NET estate is greater than $2M, then the estate gets taxed. If you inherit non-qualified money (non retirement accounts), you get a stepped up basis, meaning your basis is equal to the date of death value or 6 months later. If you inherit a retirement account you have to withdraw it out over your life expectancy and that withdrawal is taxable. Life insurance is not taxable, but is included in the estate to estate tax calculations. If none of this makes sense to you, you need to hire a tax advisor.