How much untaxed money am I allowed to be gifted from an international transfer into the UK?

Question

I am getting married and I will be receiving large money transfers from several family members as gifts, from South Africa into the UK.

Is there any limit of gifted money I can deposit or receive into my bank account without paying taxes?

Answer 1

The answer depends on a lot of things and you may want to chat to a tax adviser.

I'm going to assume that you're from South Africa and living in the UK, paying UK tax. If that is true there's no tax on incoming gifts, even from abroad, although if the gifter dies within seven years it could be liable for inheritance tax. I can't find a good official link but here's an non-official one.

As that page says, if there's an appearance of the money paying for some service in return (even deferred) then other rules apply.

Your family members may be liable to pay tax in their country, that depends on how the law there and how they got the money.

You should also note that large international transfers are likely to be flagged by the banks on both sides and may be investigated to avoid potential money laundering.