Charles III is exempt from paying taxes on his mother’s estate

King Charles III of England will not have to pay any inheritance tax on the millionaire inheritance he will receive after the death of his mother, Elizabeth II, under a law passed in 1993 ‘ex profeso’ for the crown.

The reform adopted in John Major’s time exempts “sovereign-to-sovereign” inheritances from paying the 40 percent rate that usually applies for estates over 325,000 pounds (about 375,000 euros).

The government then understood that the king cannot dispense with much of the assets he inherits and therefore has no reason to take on tax payments on a fortune that he largely cannot dispose of, according to ‘The Guardian’.

Aside from the royal estate, Charles III also inherits the Duchy of Lancaster, a conglomerate of assets, properties and companies valued at more than 650 million pounds and generating annual profits of more than 20 million pounds, according to official records.

In this case, the authorities justify not levying inheritance tax in order for the crown to maintain some level of “financial independence” from general budgets.

The British crown has a total wealth of around £15.2 billion and, of the profits made annually, 25 percent redounds back to the royal household through what is known as the ‘sovereign grant’.

Nor does the law require kings to pay income tax, but Elizabeth II agreed to pay it on a voluntary basis from 1992 and her son, while still Prince of Wales, undertook to maintain this line.