“Government launches inheritance tax review”

Jan 30, 2018 | Tax

If you think Inheritance Tax is complicated, you’re right. There are nil rate bands, residential nil rates band, annual allowances, gift allowances, marriage allowances, business property relief, agricultural relief, transferrable nil rate bands, potentially exempt transfers, chargeable lifetime transfers…

You might, therefore, think it’s good news that the other Philip H. has asked the ‘Office of Tax Simplification’ to have a look at it. Don’t hold your breath. Go to their website and you can see oner 50 previous reports. Does our tax system feel any simpler as a result? Remember ‘Pension Simplification’ in 2006? I rest my case.

“HMRC scraps plans to tax pensions after death”

Nov 25, 2023 | Tax

A couple of other Statement Highlights (in my world, anyway). A welcome ‘nothing happened’ on the treatment of pensions on death. They were never going to be liable to IHT (too complicated with trusts and trust law) but there was talk of making them income-taxable on the recipients at whatever age you die.

“Raising IHT threshold could cost government £6bn”

Nov 14, 2023 | Tax

Well, the lesson of this week in politics must be to expect the unexpected. Or, alternative interpretation, to expect more of the same. The speculation on the future of Inheritance Tax has switched from abolition to a rise in the amount of wealth you can have before the 40% payment hits.