Inheritance Tax haul hits record high

The Telegraph has recently reported that for 2016/2017 families have paid the highest amount of Inheritance Tax to date. Indications are that this will steadily increase year on year.

The increase may be attributable to rising house prices and the climbing stock market, but property wealth makes up the largest element of Inheritance Tax and primarily affects those families whose main asset is their home.

The current rules are based upon each person having an allowance of £325,000. In addition, subject to certain criteria, a new residential property relief provides a further allowance of £100,000 each rising to £175,000 by 2020/2021.  These allowances can be transferred between spouses, so that when the second one dies there will be a potential allowance of £1 million.

Careful planning is necessary to avoid missing out on these important allowances and we can provide specialist tailored advice to ensure that you maximise the amount you can leave to your family without incurring an unnecessary Inheritance Tax bill.

For further advice please contact Edward Jones on 0121 227 3377 or e-mail ejones@thursfields.co.uk