We regularly talk to clients about making use of IHT exempt gift allowances; have you used yours this, or last, tax year?

Under current rules, each person is able to gift up to £3,000 each year without any IHT consequences, you can also use last year’s exemption too if you didn’t use it. There is also a small gift allowance of £250 which you can gift to as many people as you want to, but not to the same person/s who receive any of the £3,000 allowance.

Why are we writing to you about this now? The chancellor will make his Spring Statement next week (Tuesday 13th March); on the same day as the Autumn Budget 2017, when the chancellor announced consultation on how to make the taxation of trusts simpler, fairer and more transparent, HMRC published research into the influence of IHT reliefs and exemptions on estate planning and inheritances. There have been no announcements to date, so it is possible that The Chancellor will use the Spring Statement next week to make an announcement.

Whether there will be any changes announced is pure speculation at this stage, but if you are thinking of making gifts this tax year, our advice is act sooner rather than later; make that gift to help loved ones while you can.