One of the government’s most dependable revenue sources is the inheritance tax (IHT). According to official statistics1, IHT revenues collected by HMRC for the tax year 2020–2021 were £5.4 billion and have been at or around that level for the last four years1.
However, a large portion of the tax levied on the value of your estate after your death may be avoided. It is feasible to reduce and minimize a large amount of the IHT you would otherwise pay with careful planning to ensure that exemptions, gifts, and other tax-efficient assets are fully used.
The amount you can leave your loved ones might be drastically reduced if you don’t make such provisions. IHT is charged 40% on assets like your primary residence, bank accounts, ISAs, jewelry, works of art, and antiques after the first £325,000.
Here are the top five IHT406-related questions you should have asked but were too frightened to.
1. Getting counsel may alter your future
IHT is a highly complex field. You are not required to and won’t know how to utilize every rule, exception, and allowance.
Getting counsel may help you reduce your IHT as part of a larger plan for later life that includes retirement income, social care planning, and giving away money while you’re still living, and passing money on after you pass away.
There is no fixed age when you should begin preparing, and it varies for each individual. However, it often starts when your money and assets build up. This might co-occur with mortgage payments decreasing or ceasing and children becoming less financially reliant.
Making a strategy helps you avoid rash actions and lowers your risk of receiving a nasty tax surprise. If you learn more about the iht406 form check makingsmallbusiness.
2. IHT rates and thresholds may change.
Understanding how thresholds operate will significantly reduce the amount of IHT you will likely owe.
If you leave anything beyond £325,000 to your spouse, civil partner, a charity, or a local amateur sports team, there is no IHT to be paid, even above that amount.
If you pass your house to your children, stepchildren, or grandkids, provided your inheritance is less than £2 million, your tax-free threshold rises to £500,000.
If you donate 10% or more of the net worth of your estate to charity, the IHT rate on certain assets is lowered to 36%.
3. Gifting is a straightforward approach to reducing your IHT.
Giving lessens your IHT burden while also assisting with family assistance. You may make any number of minor gifts up to £250 per person and up to £3,000 each tax year (your “annual exemption”) without incurring IHT.
If you live for seven years, almost all gifts are no longer subject to IHT. The following are the primary considerations:
Taxes are not due on gifts made to your spouse or civil partner while alive or after your death.
For gifts given to other recipients, a tax-free allowance of up to £3,000 is applicable. You may donate up to £6,000 in a tax year since you may carry the amount forward for one tax year.
Gifts made to children or grandchildren to cover the cost of a nuptial ceremony or civil union are free from IHT and are not included in the £3,000 yearly exemption. You may gift a kid or grandchild up to £5,000 or £2,500, respectively. This is an effective strategy to leave a gift that you would have given anyway as part of the value of your estate.
If you show that the gifts you make from your regular income don’t lower your living level, you may make them tax-free.
If you live for seven years after donating, gifts above the allowance are free from IHT. Gifts given between three and seven years before your death above the nil rate band are subject to a sliding scale of taxation known as “taper relief.” Less money is charged the longer the period.
4. Your house could push you over the edge.
Despite the increased exemption, the rising value of assets, notably real estate, is mostly to blame for the growing government’s inheritance tax coffers. The number of estates beyond the tax-free levels and the amount owed have increased along with property values. For instance, the £175,000 exemption might be replaced by a £70,000 inheritance tax penalty if total assets surpass the £2.4 million value level for the property relief in 2020–21.
Furthermore, unlike real estate or other assets, the standard relief has not increased in value with inflation since it was capped at £325,000 in 2009 and fixed until 2021. As assets continue to rise, the Office for Budget Responsibility of the UK government projects that the inheritance tax revenue will surpass £6.3 billion by 2023–2024.
However, there are alternatives to progressively transferring (or spending!) your fortune over your lifetime that might help you reduce the UK inheritance tax. Expatriates may consider employing locally acceptable investment structures or acquiring a preferred domicile abroad.
You may determine your domicile status and how the UK inheritance tax interacts with the local inheritance tax in your country of residence with the assistance of an advisor with specialized, cross-border experience. With careful estate planning, you may organize your wealth to maximize tax benefits and guarantee that your legacy is passed on to the proper people without burdening your descendants with a hefty tax payment.
