Inheritance tax consultation welcomed

Posted 22/03/2012

Savings and investment firm Standard Life has welcomed the launch of a consultation on the legal processes behind inheritance tax.

More specifically, the restriction on the exemption of a spouse of partner in the levy is under review.

Inheritance tax (IHT) is only due if the net worth of an estate – taking any assets held in trust and gifts made within seven years of death into account – is valued at higher than £325,000.

At this point it is payable at 40 per cent, but Standard Life notes laws from the European Union have had an increasingly prominent impact in recent years.

Head of international technical insight at the firm Julie Hutchinson suggested existing reliefs and exemptions set a promising precedent.

“[The consultation] will hopefully remove a tax worry and layer of IHT complexity for mobile clients with international connections,” she commented, adding this will be particularly beneficial to individuals whose spouse or partner is from another nation.

Posted by Simon Crooks