Charities could be helped by inheritance tax changes

Alterations to inheritance tax, as announced in the recent Budget, may be good news for charities.

This is according to Standard Life, which said that people may decide to leave more of their estates to charitable causes as a result of the chancellor's announcement.

The company conducted a survey prior to the Budget last month and discovered that only some of those questioned would leave their assets to these causes, with the rest instead choosing to gift it to loved ones.

However, the firm believes that people may have now changed their minds as a result of the news that if they leave ten per cent of their assets to charity they will receive a tax break.

"Under the new proposals the amount of tax they could pay will drop from 40 to 36 per cent, from next year. This will mean they could provide more to their family by donating money to charitable causes, which could be a ‘win-win' for both parties," Julie Hutchinson, head of estate planning at Standard Life, said.

In addition, those interested in wills and probate have been told that each year digital assets worth millions are lost as they are not mentioned in their owners' wills, according to research from Remember a Charity.

Published by Hannah Carr