The way to avoid inheritance tax – but what’s the catch? This is Money podcast


Inheritance tax is a tax that punches above its weight. It is paid by only a tiny minority of estates, but it is Britain’s most hated tax and its most controversial.

Some people think double taxation is immoral and should be abolished altogether. Others think it should be much higher. And somewhere in between are many people who think 40 percent is simply too much.

But it is also a tax that even people with expensive homes and lots of savings can avoid if they want to, by spending more and giving more away in their lives.

The problem is that they have to survive for seven years or they risk having to deal with outdated gift regulations.

Yet there is a little-known loophole that allows people to give away significantly more without having to worry about the seven-year rule.

In this podcast, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert discuss inheritance tax and the excess income scheme.

They discuss this trick to avoid inheritance tax, the catches and all the other rules surrounding inheritance tax.

Also in this week’s broadcast: noisy heat pumps, the British Isa meets his maker and our lack of support for high streets that we complain are dying.

Outdated: People are allowed to gift a certain amount each year without paying Income Tax (IHT), but the limits have not changed since the 1980s, according to a 2018 report from the Office of Tax Simplification.

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