UK Inheritance Tax When Living in Argentina: The Post-2025 Residence Rules

UK Inheritance Tax changed fundamentally on 6 April 2025. Older explanations based on domicile of origin and the 15-of-20-year deemed-domicile test no longer describe the main framework. The central question is now whether you are a long-term UK resident under the statutory residence history rules.

The long-term residence test

For IHT, you are generally a long-term UK resident if you were UK resident for at least 10 of the previous 20 tax years. Residence is tested under the UK tax rules; nationality and the place printed in your passport do not decide it.

If you meet that test, your worldwide estate can fall within UK IHT. That can include Argentine property, investments and bank accounts as well as UK assets. The familiar nil-rate bands and exemptions may still matter, but their application depends on the estate and family circumstances.

What happens after leaving the UK

Worldwide exposure does not necessarily stop in the year you move. A former long-term resident can remain within the worldwide IHT scope for a residence tail of between 3 and 10 tax years. The exact tail depends on how many of the previous 20 tax years you were UK resident.

A person with 10–13 UK-resident years generally has a three-year tail. The tail then increases with additional UK-resident years, reaching ten years after 20 UK-resident years. A long UK residence history therefore needs to be modelled tax year by tax year rather than reduced to one universal departure date.

UK assets remain a separate issue

Ending worldwide exposure does not make UK property disappear from IHT. UK-situated assets can remain taxable even when you are not a long-term UK resident. Special rules also apply to indirect interests in UK residential property and to some trusts.

Argentina does not impose a single federal inheritance tax, but succession law, provincial taxes and reporting can still apply. UK and Argentine rules must be analysed independently before considering treaty relief or credits.

Practical planning

1. Record your UK residence position for each of the previous 20 tax years.
2. Identify the year in which long-term-residence status and any departure tail end.
3. Separate UK-situated assets from non-UK assets.
4. Review both UK and Argentine wills so that one does not revoke the other.
5. Check pension death-benefit nominations rather than assuming every pension sits outside the estate.
6. Take advice before making gifts or settling assets into trust; timing and anti-avoidance rules matter.

The nil-rate band, residence nil-rate band, spouse exemption and seven-year gift rules can be relevant, but none is a substitute for establishing the estate's territorial scope first.

Not tax or legal advice. The post-2025 rules are fact-sensitive. A UK private-client adviser and an Argentine succession professional should review the same asset schedule before documents are signed.

Worth reading next

• UK Wills and Argentine Assets: A Cross-Border Planning Guide
• UK Tax and HMRC for British Expats in Argentina
• UK–Argentina Double Tax Treaty: Residence, Income and Claims