IHT Lifetime Gifting ‘Tax Trap’

News that HMRC has pulled in almost £650m due to complex inheritance gifting rules in the past three years, has once again highlighted the need for careful estate planning by families. Whilst the overall tax receipts from Inheritance Tax (IHT) between April 2022 and February 2023 were £6.4 billion, the focus of this latest news is on the proportion collected as a result of gifts made by the deceased in the period leading up to their death.

Making Tax Digital (MTD) and Digital Business Rates (DBR) combine?

There’s little doubt that business rates need reforming from top to bottom as was highlighted in the Government review completed in 2021. But as well as introducing reform to the calculus, the Government has committed to digitise the system from 2026/27. However, there is now a suggestion that it could tie up with the Government’s Making Tax Digital (MTD) strategy to form part of that broader, holistic view of tax liabilities and payments.