There was a major change to Inheritance Tax with effect from the 9th October 2007, what was it?
Dramatic rule changes were announced on the 9th October last year which enabled any unused Inheritance Tax allowance (otherwise known as the nil rate band) to be transferred between spouses or civil partners. For example if the first spouse or civil partner dies and leaves everything to the other, there will be a double allowance at the time of the second death currently £624,000 based on today’s nil rate band of £312,000, before IHT is payable at 40%. While there is a negated Inheritance Tax liability for most people for many it could still prove to be an expensive mistake to ignore Inheritance Tax. For example, tax bills are based on the value of your assets at the time of death and – contrary to what many imagined individual savings accounts (ISAs) and personal equity plans (PEPS) confer no protection at all from Inheritance Tax. With property prices rocketing over the past ten years, it is not uncommon for couple to have properties worth well in excess of £312,000 even with prices
