HMRC wants views on boosting legacies through reduced inheritance tax
Howard Lake | 12 June 2011 | News
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is inviting comments on the Government’s proposal to encourage charitable giving through legacies by estates paying a lower rate of inheritance tax (IHT). The proposal was announced by the Chancellor at the Budget.
The IHT consultation, “A new incentive for charitable legacies”, follows the Budget announcement that estates can reduce their inheritance tax rate by 10% (from 40% to 36%) when they leave a charitable legacy of 10% or more of their net estate.
This is designed to act as an incentive to encourage people to leave a charitable legacy, or to increase the amount of an existing legacy, when they die. The consultation looks at how best to implement this policy, which is expected to apply for deaths on or after 6 April 2012.
HMRC welcomes views from anyone who has an interest in this area, but particularly from charities and advisers on wills and IHT.
Justine Greening, Economic Secretary to the Treasury said: “The Government’s philanthropy package announced at this year’s Budget represented the most radical reforms to charitable giving for more than twenty years and is designed to encourage further financial support for charities. This reduced rate of IHT should provide an extra incentive for people to use their estate to support worthy causes and we very much hope that this consultation will mean we can get the details right so it can make a real difference.”
The consultation closes on 31 August 2011.
www.hmrc.gov.uk/consultations/index.htm
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.