IR moves to tackle inheritance tax avoidance

Inheritance tax is unpopular among those who feel levies are unfairly high when it comes to estate administration, but a new scheme from the Inland Revenue (IR) seeks to curtail attempts to minimise the charge.

From April next year, inheritance tax schemes involving the setting up of trusts for property or other possessions will legally have to be disclosed, the Financial Times notes.

Making a will often allows families to consider their belongings and how these will be distributed, potentially highlighting the state fees that will be paid as part of the probate process.

The inheritance tax development will allow HMRC to investigate the “full extent of avoidance activity [involving] transfers into trust”, the body claims, something that could make the services of a professional executor of estate helpful.

Abolishing the requirement to annuitise at the age of 75 might change inheritance advice offered to those hoping to retain maximum estate value for their next of kin, as from April Britons will have the option to invest their pension in the stock market, with no inheritance tax paid upon the returns.

Published by Tessa Jones