Inheritance tax

[PerlOfWisdom]

IHT is an insidius tax where you are being charged a second time for tax already paid to this government! I always thought double dipping was illegal...but it transpires its only illegal if you arent the government!

Mailman

IHT is the least unfair tax of all. The person who pays the tax is getting the money for nothing and has done nothing for it. It's not double taxation because the person paying hasn't already paid tax on it.

Inheritance causes people to be lazy as they have no need to put extra effort into their working lives or to do work they don't like.

And I'm not due any!

[Mustang]

Irrespective of who earnt them money, the government is still taking tax twice from the rest of the population and that has to be WRONG!

[tim123]

Looks like by the end of 2005/06 it will have about doubled since 1996/97 and up six-fold or so since 1978/79.

A technical graduate starting salary in 1978 was about 4K. (I started in 1980 on 5K and the previous few years were the 20% inflation years!)
Now it's what, about 25K? So a six fold increase.

Thus a six fold increase in tax receips over the same period is a systematic increase, it is not one caused by a policy change.

tim

[Tex]

Agreed, Tim, and I think that was the Sarge's point. IHT hasn't been deliberately hiked by Gordo, unlike stamp duty which you can clearly see from the graph has been.

[ASB]

The person who pays the tax is getting the money for nothing and has done nothing for it. It's not double taxation because the person paying hasn't already paid tax on it.

You could make that point about the inheritor. It is not true for the tax payer. IHT is payable by the estate, and it has already been taxed of course.

One of the problems with IHT is that the bill (currently) has to be settled before the estate can be dealt with.

This can make it very difficult to deal with the estate if it does not have cash. In principle the estate cannot sell any asset to pay the bill until the bill is setlled. It is difficult for it to borrow and if the heirs don't have any cash to lend the estate it can get very awkward.

[PerlOfWisdom]

Irrespective of who earnt them money, the government is still taking tax twice from the rest of the population and that has to be WRONG!

The government takes tax hundreds of time from the same money - every time it changes hands.

[atatum]

Elliminating Inheritance Tax Completely

It is possible in most circumstances to elliminate inheritance tax completely. It is easier with married couples. Single people are more complex, but it is still possible.

If your relatives wife died in the last two years and she did not make maximum use of her Nil Rate BAnd IHT allowance this is a good starting point and a good estate planner will be able to help with a deed of varriation.

You could make further use of PETS, (No not your Cat) a potentially excempt transfer, this starts to have effect on tax saving 3 years and 1 day after the gift is given and after seven years an one day the gift would be tax free.

This is a complex area where the law changes frequently and most accountants use specialist tax planner like my company http://www.nls-bucks.com so have a look at my website or for a more detailed answer email us on info@nls-bucks.com or give us a ring on 0845-3700-240 an initial discussion is always free.

[MrsGoof]

who built that site?

the text at the bottom is white on white so cant be read

Writing a will can be complex, National Legal Services offers fixed prices wills drafted to your exact requirements. We specialise in writing wills that reducing inheritance tax liabilities and providing protection for your home through your will. Wills Aylesbury, Wills Oxfords, Wills Slough, Wills Windsor, Wills Bucks, Wills Berks, Wills, Oxon

[boredsenseless]

who built that site?

the text at the bottom is white on white so cant be read

Come on he's not suggesting he is great at IT he's a taxation estate planner, but the fact he's got a website means he's more competent in your chosen profession than you are in his so stop whinging!

[tim123]

It is possible in most circumstances to elliminate inheritance tax completely. It is easier with married couples. Single people are more complex, but it is still possible.

If your relatives wife died in the last two years and she did not make maximum use of her Nil Rate BAnd IHT allowance this is a good starting point and a good estate planner will be able to help with a deed of varriation.

You could make further use of PETS, (No not your Cat) a potentially excempt transfer, this starts to have effect on tax saving 3 years and 1 day after the gift is given and after seven years an one day the gift would be tax free.

I personally fail to see why a sole individual should bother to try and avoid IHT. If you have a specific person that you really, really, really want the money to go to then fine, but jumping through hoops to give the money away early just impoverishes the giver.

Though it seems most people just want to do it to spite the government. But it's not like the tax is 100%, it's only(!) 40% of everything over 300K. If the recipient has a big bill to pay, it's because they have inherited a lot. Why put yourself at risk of penury in old age to avoid someone else paying some tax on money that is just going to be given to them.

And if this 'other' person is your partner, the soloution is (usually) simple, - marry them.

tim