Tiny percentage of estates paying IHT utilised gifts out of surplus income exemption

poseidon1

Article below not especially surprising. Conceptually the exemption is complex and far from intuitive as the many posts on the various MSE forums attest.

https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/money/pensions-and-retirement/little-known-way-cut-your-inheritance-tax-bill-one-50-use-3677859

Whether future IHT on pension pots will actually result in a significant uptick in the use of the exemption remains to be seen.

 I remain of the view that this and the other motley collection of exemptions ( eg small gifts, political parties, marriage etc), should be abolished in favour of an uplift to the individual £3,000 annual exemption to £15k or £20k annually.

 Such an uplift should more than satisfy most people's desire to gift modest amounts of capital (or income ) during lifetime, with potentially exempt transfers requiring 7 year survival retained for those  wishing to make more substantial gifts. Would also be fairer to singletons with no children.