David Cameron and Inheritance Tax Planning

As you all know, David Cameron has been in the spotlight over inheritance tax and the issue of tax planning. Regardless of whether people think planning to mitigate your inheritance tax liability is morally correct, there are various things people can do to reduce an inheritance tax bill.

They are legal and commonly used by families as part of their financial planning as a whole. Here are a just a couple of simple things you may not be aware of when considering tax planning. Of course, the information below is an overview and you will need to seek further professional advice to make sure what you are doing is appropriate and right for your own circumstances.

News clip from the guardian paper

Annual Inheritance Tax Threshold

Everyone has an annual inheritance tax allowance of £3,000 (£6,000 if you did not use the allowance in the previous tax year). This means you can give this amount away to your children or grandchildren, for example, and it will not be liable to inheritance tax.

Regular gifts out of income and expenditure

In addition to your annual allowance, you could also give away regular sums of money to your family and it should not attract an inheritance tax charge. For example, many grandparents will pay a monthly sum into a grandchild’s ISA or bank account. As long as the payments are regular and do not affect the grandparent’s lifestyle the Inland Revenue will allow those payments to be free of inheritance tax. Your Executors may still need to notify the Inland Revenue of the payments so it is essential to keep clear records.

If you would like any further information or want to know about any other tax planning opportunities please call Reshma Field on 07538 946839 or email info@swindonwillwriting.co.uk