ARTICLE · 22 MARCH 2017

Retirement: Gifting To Save Inheritance Tax

Debenhams Ottaway

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Retirement is an opportune time to take stock of your assets and to think about gifting to save your estate inheritance tax (IHT).

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Susan Glenholme

Retirement is an opportune time to take stock of your assets and to think about gifting to save your estate inheritance tax (IHT).

Perhaps your children have now flown the nest and you have downsized and are looking at ways of benefitting the next generation?

The most straightforward IHT exemption is the 'annual exemption' where you can make gifts of £3,000 every financial year without any IHT repercussions, and bring forward any unused exemptions from the previous financial year. Another way to look at this is a married couple can gift £12,000 IHT-free every two years.

But there are other exemptions to help you plan for the future. If a person has surplus income then it can be gifted away IHT-free no matter what the amount is, but there are criteria that need to be met.

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