Gifts on a Wedding

danco

Gifts of up to £1000 made on a wedding (before the actual wedding) are free of IHT if my understanding is correct, even if one is not related to the person getting married.

Doesn't that mean that one can actually give £2000, as £1000 to each of the pair.

Marcon

Gifts for weddings or civil partnerships

You can give a tax free gift to someone who is getting married or starting a civil partnership. You can give up to:

• £5,000 to a child
• £2,500 to a grandchild or great-grandchild
• £1,000 to any other person

If you’re giving gifts to the same person, you can combine a wedding gift allowance with any other allowance, except for the small gift allowance.

For example, you can give your child a wedding gift of £5,000 as well as £3,000 using your annual exemption in the same tax year.

https://www.gov.uk/inheritance-tax/gifts

silvercar

Just pay for the wedding, wording the invites in the traditional way, “parents of bride together with parents of groom invite XX to celebrate the marriage of…”

That way the parents are hosting the party and there is no gifting involved. Unless you want to add a gift too.

Keep_pedalling

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82000502#Comment_82000502

That interpretation is incorrect you can only make one exempt gift per wedding. Nothing stopping you gifting more if you want you will just have to wait 7 years for the additional gift to fall out of your estate. If the OP is married or in a civil partnership both of them can take advantage of the exemption.

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6668470/gifts-on-a-wedding

Presume you are aware that these rules are only relevant, if your estate is likely to be in IHT territory?

I ask the question because we often get posters that worry that gifts could incur somehow IHT, even when the estate will not be big enough to be liable for any IHT.

Mands

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82000673#Comment_82000673

The OP has said, in other posts, that

• they are in their early 90s
• still able to travel independently
• are solidly in IHT territory

That makes them pretty rare in these parts and may also influence the advice given.

danco

Interesting that Mands has noted my other posts. Yes, that information is correct about me.

I note that Keep_pedalling remarks that one can only make one gift per wedding. That was the point that I was unsure of, I hadn't noticed that in the details that I had read about it, but it does make sense (though I can see situations in which the other interpretation makes more sense).

mta999

Yes unfortunately I agree - it is per wedding not per participant !

Skint_yet_Again

I saw this online. Can anyone link me to instructions where it says limit is per wedding?

Parents wishing to gift money to a child and their spouse-to-be in recognition of their wedding could make a combined cash gift of up to £24,000 with no IHT exposure. This is comprised of:
PARENT 1 PARENT 2
Marriage allowance	£5,000	£5,000
Annual exemption (current tax year)	£3,000	£3,000
Annual exemption (prior tax year)	£3,000	£3,000
Cash gift for spouse / civil partner	£1,000	£1,000
Total	£12,000	£12,000

poseidon1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82003271#Comment_82003271

Always wise to check authoritative sources per HMRC manuals - see below

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/inheritance-tax-manual/ihtm14191