Inheritance Tax became a political hot potato in the UK in October 2007 during Gordon’ Brown’s ‘will he, won’t he call an election’ period when the Conservatives and Labour were trading pledges on inheritance tax whilst jostling for position in the polls.

The Labour government took the wind out of the Conservative pledge to raise the Inheritance Tax threshold to £1 Million by announcing that they were doubling tax-free allowance before inheritance tax has to be paid.

What has actually happened is that the tax free allowance for each person – the ‘nil-rate band’ – has not been doubled.  However, married couples and those in civil partnerships are now automatically entitled to make use of their partner’s tax allowance.  This change is retrospective, so that people who have already lost a spouse or civil partner, can now benefit from their partner’s tax free allowance for inheritance tax.  The current nil rate band in 2008 is £312,000 per person.

For those people with overseas investment property assets, it is worthwhile considering the inheritance tax position of those assets, and making plans for the disposal of those assets. 

There are a number of options available, with a range of benefits both for you the investor, and longer-term, for your heirs.  Brookes & Company run free seminars which discuss the options available and can help you set up tax-efficient structures so that your assets are protected from inheritance tax.

For more information, please contact us.