Hi – I have been reading this page on Gov regarding the 7 year rule and tax on gifts as well as some other information on the web.  Have tried to get in touch with HMRC but they seem to not want to answer law queries.

https://www.gov.uk/inheritance-tax/gifts

My question is around this section in the page:
If you die within 7 years of giving a gift and there’s Inheritance Tax to pay on it, the amount of tax due after your death depends on when you gave it. 

Gifts given in the 3 years before your death are taxed at 40%.

Gifts given 3 to 7 years before your death are taxed on a sliding scale known as ‘taper relief’.

Taper relief only applies if the total value of gifts made in the 7 years before you die is over the £325,000 tax-free threshold.
The page then shows a table including the 3-7 year ladder of IHT tax reduction.

Example:

1. Married remaining parent (1 has already died) gifts to child 200k whilst alive – total estate (house + savings) is ~900k at the point of time where this is gifted
2. Parent dies in 1 year following the gift
3. This is the only gift

Interpreting the HMRC advice in that page – I would assume that tax liable is therefore 80k (3 years before death is taxed at 40%) as Taper Relief seems to be defined only after the <3 years comment.  Other sources on the web include that as part of the definition of Taper Relief which causes me confusion.

Is that correct?  Or is the <3 years part of Taper and therefore under the 325k tax-free threshold?

Many thanks in advance