Story thread · 8 reports / 5 sources

HMRC alert: Families hit with £1billion raid by 'most feared' tax on inheritance

gbnews.com · 55mShare

Wealthy families who left it too late to transfer assets to their loved ones were hit with more than £1billion in inheritance tax (IHT) bills over a four-year period, according to new analysis. Data obtained through a Freedom of Information (FoI) request to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) by financial advice firm NFU Mutual reveals that 5,080 estates were liable for IHT on lifetime gifts across the tax years 2020 to 2024. Said estates came under the IHT bracket after the donors died before the crucial seven-year threshold had elapsed. Under current rules, non-exempt gifts made during a person's lifetime fall outside the scope of IHT provided the giver survives for at least seven years. Where death occurs sooner, the gift is drawn back into the estate for tax purposes. Drilling into the most recent year of data, the 2023-24 tax year alone saw 1,390 estates caught by the rule, collectively paying £315million in IHT on gifts made too close to death. That works out at roughly £226,000 per es

First report: Reform hits back at Tory plan to ‘abolish inheritance tax’ — cityam.com, 1d