Remittance of gift money from Indian bank account to UK bank account

Question

I was born in India and came to the UK 11 years ago when I was 20 years old. I'm a British Citizen and hold a UK bank account.

I also have an Indian bank account which is managed by my father in India. Up until now, we haven't transferred any money from my Indian bank account to my UK bank account.

My Grandmother is intending to gift me some money in my Indian bank account.

Would I incur any taxation for this Gift in UK? Does it change if I transferred that gifted money into my UK bank account and used it towards a house deposit here in the UK?

Answer 1

You won't be subject to any UK tax on this, no matter how large the gift.

Most importantly, there's no gift tax in the UK.

The UK does have inheritance tax which also applies to gifts from the living if the donor dies within 7 years of making the gift. However it applies to the donor not the recipient, so since the donor is not in the UK, it's not relevant.

Answer 2

Inheritance tax also depends upon the residence and domicile criteria.

If you are a resident in the UK with non-domiciled status, you will be exempted from IHT from the gifts you will receive.

If you are domiciled in the UK, then you come under IHT rules.

Please correct me if I am wrong.