Nothing to pay when the money arrives
The UK has no gift tax on the recipient. A gift is not income and not a disposal by you, so however large the transfer, and whichever country it comes from, HMRC does not tax you on receipt and there is nothing to declare on a Self Assessment return. Your bank may ask about the source of funds, particularly if the money is going towards a property, so keep the transfer record, the date and a short note of who gave it and why. The one UK tax that can attach to a gift is inheritance tax, and that is assessed by reference to the person giving, not the person receiving. Our inheritance tax and gifts when living abroad guide works through the giver's position with three worked examples.
Whether the giver is inside UK inheritance tax at all
Since 6 April 2025 UK inheritance tax has been residence based. A person living overseas is within it on their worldwide assets only if they are a long-term UK resident, meaning UK tax resident in at least 10 of the 20 tax years before the gift. That status does not switch off on departure: it persists for a tail of 3 years for someone resident in 13 or fewer of the last 20 years, rising a year at a time to 10 years for someone resident in all 20. Inside the tail, a gift of foreign cash is a potentially exempt transfer with a 7-year clock. Outside it, the same gift is excluded property and UK inheritance tax never applies. UK situated assets, such as UK property and UK company shares, stay in scope forever, wherever the giver lives. The giver may also face gift or estate taxes in their own country, which is a question for an adviser there.
If the gift does fall inside: who pays and how much
Where the giver is within UK inheritance tax and dies within 7 years, failed gifts are set against the £325,000 nil-rate band oldest first. Gifts within the band are taxed at 0%; only the excess is charged at up to 40%, and that tax is payable primarily by the recipient, so the risk sits with you rather than the estate. Taper relief reduces the tax, not the value of the gift, for gifts made more than 3 years before death: 32% for 3 to 4 years, 24%, 16% and 8% for 6 to 7 years. From the day you receive the money, any interest, rent or gains it generates are yours to declare. If the sums are large, confirm the giver's residence history before the transfer rather than after, because that single fact decides whether the 7-year clock exists at all. Our 7-year rule guide explains the taper and the record-keeping.