IHT enquiries 'on the rise'

Thursday, December 3rd 2009

More Britons are consulting advisers about inheritance tax (IHT) as a result of speculation over whether changes will be made to tax thresholds in the pre-Budget report.

This is according to financial planning specialist WAY Group, which says that such queries have increased by about 20 per cent in the last three months.

Other factors that may have a bearing on this rise include rising property prices in central London, the Homes Counties and other regions, as well as the recent turnaround in share portfolio and pension fund values, it explains.

"There is no time like the present when it comes to long-term tax planning," says Mark Benson, technical manager for WAY Group.

According to the Guardian, government sources suggest that chancellor Alistair Darling may be planning to abandon the policy of gradually lifting Britons out of the IHT net and instead freeze the threshold at which IHT becomes payable.