How much inheritance tax does a child pay on 500,000 in each country?
Leave 500,000 to your adult child and the tax they pay depends enormously on the country. Of the 17 places and cases we compared for 2026, the bill is highest in the Netherlands at €78,887 on €500,000 and in France at €78,194.
In Italy it's €0, and in the United States there's no federal estate tax at all on an estate this size.
The UK sits in both camps. With no home in the estate, the child pays £70,000 on £500,000. If the estate includes a home left to the child, the bill falls to £0. Germany charges €9,350.
The family we priced
A widowed parent dies and leaves everything to one adult child, aged 35. The estate is cash and investments, with no business and no earlier gifts from the parent. We put 500,000 through every inheritance or estate tax calculator on this site where that amount means roughly the same thing: euros for the euro countries, pounds for the UK and dollars for the US. We didn't convert anything.
We left out Denmark and Poland. Their calculators work in kroner and złoty, and 500,000 in those currencies is a much smaller estate, so the result wouldn't be comparable.
Inheritance tax on 500,000, country by country
Sort by any column. The tax column is in the currency shown on each row.
Inheritance tax on 500,000 left to one adult child, by country, 2026
Download CSVEach country in its own currency at 500,000 (euros, pounds or dollars); nothing converted. Widowed parent, one adult child aged 35, estate of cash and investments, no earlier gifts. Source: Bedrock Calculator inheritance and estate tax engines.
| Spain: state rules, no regional relief | EUR | 106,021.59 | 21.2% | 393,978.41 | ISD state scale without any regional bonification |
| Netherlands | EUR | 78,887.1 | 15.8% | 421,112.9 | Erfbelasting, child exemption and two bands |
| France | EUR | 78,194.35 | 15.6% | 421,805.65 | Droits de succession, direct-line abatement and scale |
| United Kingdom: no home in estate | GBP | 70,000 | 14.0% | 430,000 | IHT, nil-rate band only |
| Finland | EUR | 69,000 | 13.8% | 431,000 | Perintövero, tax class I |
| Spain: Catalonia | EUR | 27,930 | 5.6% | 472,070 | ISD, Catalonia sliding bonification (approximated) |
| Ireland | EUR | 26,400 | 5.3% | 473,600 | Capital Acquisitions Tax, Group A threshold |
| United States: Pennsylvania | USD | 22,500 | 4.5% | 477,500 | State inheritance tax, lineal heir |
| Greece | EUR | 11,500 | 2.3% | 488,500 | Category A exemption and scale |
| Germany | EUR | 9,350 | 1.9% | 490,650 | Erbschaftsteuer, class I child allowance, flat estate-costs allowance |
| United States: Nebraska | USD | 4,000 | 0.8% | 496,000 | State inheritance tax, lineal heir |
| Spain: Madrid | EUR | 1,060.22 | 0.2% | 498,939.78 | ISD state scale, Madrid 99% bonification |
| Spain: Valencia | EUR | 1,060.22 | 0.2% | 498,939.78 | ISD, Valencia bonification |
| Spain: Andalucía | EUR | 0 | 0.0% | 500,000 | ISD, Andalucía reliefs |
| Italy | EUR | 0 | 0.0% | 500,000 | Imposta di successione, direct-line franchigia |
| United Kingdom: home left to the child | GBP | 0 | 0.0% | 500,000 | IHT, nil-rate band plus residence nil-rate band |
| United States: federal estate tax | USD | 0 | 0.0% | 500,000 | Below the federal basic exclusion amount |
Where children pay the most
The Netherlands. Dutch erfbelasting gives a child a small exemption and then charges two rates, the higher one on everything above a fairly low band. On €500,000 that's €78,887, or 15.8%.
France. Each child gets an abatement, then a sliding scale whose rate climbs quickly. On €500,000 the child pays €78,194, or 15.6%. Lifetime gifts, which get a fresh abatement every 15 years, are how many French families reduce this.
The UK without a home. UK Inheritance Tax is charged on the estate, not the heir. The first £325,000 is the nil-rate band, and the rest is taxed at 40%. With nothing else to shelter it, a £500,000 estate pays £70,000.
Finland. Tax class I, for children and spouses, has a progressive scale on the amount each heir receives. On €500,000 it's €69,000.
Where the bill is small or zero
Italy. Children and spouses have a franchigia, an allowance per heir that's far above €500,000. The tax is €0. Italy does charge fixed-percentage registration taxes on inherited property, which this cash estate doesn't trigger.
The UK with a home. If the estate includes a home that passes to a child or grandchild, a second allowance, the residence nil-rate band, is added. For our £500,000 estate that removes the bill entirely: £0.
Germany. A child's allowance is large, and the rate on the slice above it starts low. After the child allowance and a flat allowance for estate costs, the tax is €9,350, or 1.9%.
Greece. Category A heirs, which include children, get an exemption and then low rates. The tax is €11,500.
The US. The federal basic exclusion is $15,000,000 in 2026, so a $500,000 estate pays no federal estate tax. A dozen or so states have their own estate tax, all with exemptions well above $500,000. Five states tax heirs instead, through an inheritance tax. Most exempt children entirely, but not all. In Pennsylvania a child pays $22,500, and in Nebraska $4,000.
Spain: the region decides
Spain's inheritance tax (Impuesto sobre Sucesiones) is a state tax run by the regions, and they've cut it to very different degrees. Under the state scale alone, our child would pay €106,022, the largest bill in the table. No region we model charges that. Madrid and Valencia give a near-total rebate for children, leaving €1,060. Andalucía charges €0. Catalonia's sliding rebate leaves €27,930.
So the "Spain" answer is really where the parent lived. Regions not in the calculator, such as Asturias or Castilla-La Mancha, have their own rules.
Ireland: a big threshold, then a high rate
Ireland's Capital Acquisitions Tax gives each child a lifetime threshold from their parents, then taxes everything above it at a single rate. On €500,000 the child pays €26,400, or 5.3%. The threshold counts gifts and inheritances from both parents together over a lifetime, so a child who has already received money from a parent will pay more.
How we worked out these numbers
Every figure comes from the country's own calculator on this site, run once with the same family. For the US federal estate tax we took the 2026 basic exclusion from the gift tax calculator and checked that $500,000 is below it; state inheritance tax comes from the US inheritance tax calculator.
What these numbers leave out
The family home. Apart from the UK, we priced a cash estate. Germany, Spain and Italy have reliefs for a family home passing to children, and France and Italy tax property differently, so an estate with a house can come out quite differently.
Earlier gifts. Germany adds gifts from the last ten years, Ireland adds every gift from the same group for life, France adds gifts from the last 15 years, and the UK taxes gifts from the last seven. We assumed none.
Several heirs. Most European taxes are charged per heir. Two children splitting €500,000 would each get their own allowance and pay much less in total. The UK and US federal taxes are charged on the estate as a whole.
Spain and the US are partly covered. Four Spanish regions are modelled, and only some US states.
Business and farm reliefs are not included anywhere.
Run your own numbers
Try your own estate in the Germany, France or Spain inheritance tax calculators, the Ireland CAT calculator or the UK Inheritance Tax calculator. For US state inheritance tax, use the inheritance tax calculator. For yearly taxes on wealth while you're alive, see our comparison of wealth taxes in Europe.
