Inheritance Tax Act 1984 section 1

Charge on transfers

Section 1 establishes the fundamental charging provision for inheritance tax, confirming that the tax applies to the value transferred by a chargeable transfer.

• Inheritance tax is a tax charged on the value transferred by a chargeable transfer.
• The tax applies to the amount by which value is transferred, not necessarily to the asset itself.
• A transfer must be "chargeable" for the tax to apply — certain transfers are exempt or potentially exempt.
• This section is the foundational provision upon which all other inheritance tax rules are built.