How to avoid inheritance tax, but what’s the trick? This is the Money podcast

Inheritance tax is a tax that goes beyond what you might expect. It is paid by only a tiny minority of estates, but it manages to be Britain’s most hated and most controversial tax.

Some believe it is an immoral double tax and should be eliminated altogether, others say it should be increased, and somewhere in the middle there are many people who think charging 40 percent is too much.

But it is also a tax that even those with an expensive home and plenty of savings can usually avoid if they choose to do so by spending more and giving away more over their lifetimes.

The problem is that they need to survive seven years or they might get stuck in some very old-fashioned gift assignments.

However, there is a little-known loophole that allows people to gift considerably more without worrying about the seven-year rule.

In this podcast, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert discuss inheritance tax and the surplus income rule.

They talk about this trick to avoid inheritance tax and the pitfalls that come with it, as well as all the other rules surrounding IHT.

Also on this week’s programme: noisy heat pumps, Britain’s ISA meets its maker and our failure to support high streets we regret are dying.

This is the Money podcast