Who sets the value of a house for IHT purposes?

Who sets the value of a house for IHT purposes?
I have read that the executors must valuate an estate in case of death or transfer, and that includes the house. But how they do it? RICS Surveyors? Estate Agencies? Just guessing?

Obviously it makes sense to valuate a house at a minimum, so to avoid paying as much as possible, even skipping the IHT altogether. I assume that there is an HMRC office somewhere in charge of checking the values, Isn’t it?

What can you do to get the minimum valuation as possible?

Comments

  • 00ec25
    00ec25 Posts: 9,123
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    edited 19 May 2018 at 5:50PM
    mellizo wrote: »
    I assume that there is an HMRC office somewhere in charge of checking the values, Isn!!!8217;t it?
    obviously there is, otherwise there would be no way to apply the tax in a fair manner
    mellizo wrote: »
    What can you do to get the minimum valuation as possible?
    you can't, you can declare a mickey mouse number and wait for HMRC to impose their own figure because they will punish you for trying it on, or you can declare a reasonable number and HMRC should accept it because they have better things to do that argue over a small difference.

    have you heard of google? Isn't it useful:

    https://www.gov.uk/valuing-estate-of-someone-who-died
  • BoGoF
    BoGoF Posts: 6,969
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    And google fraud while you're at it.
  • p00hsticks
    p00hsticks Posts: 12,671
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    mellizo wrote: »
    Obviously it makes sense to valuate a house at a minimum, so to avoid paying as much as possible, even skipping the IHT altogether.


    Not if the beneficiaries wish to sell the property without living in it themselves, as they'll potentially be liable for CGT on the differnece between the probate valuation and the price it actually sells for
  • Keep_pedalling
    Keep_pedalling Posts: 16,439
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    If the estate is in IHT territory or is close to being so, then a RICS surveyor should be used. If it is well under that then it is not so crucial for IHT purposes, but would still be useful for CGT purposes.
  • Uxb
    Uxb Posts: 1,340 Forumite
    edited 20 May 2018 at 7:28AM
    p00hsticks wrote: »
    Not if the beneficiaries wish to sell the property without living in it themselves, as they'll potentially be liable for CGT on the differnece between the probate valuation and the price it actually sells for

    If it is in IHT territory and assuming the beneficieny of the house is also in effect paying the IHT by getting less via the residue as residual beneficiary, then they will pay 40% IHT on any increased valuation over some "minimum valuation"
    Alternatively they will pay CGT tax at 20% including in this the CGT tax free £11700 nil-band over this minimum valuation when they sell at a higher price sometime later.
    This is all rather less than 40% IHT on everything paid now.
    Which makes it tax-cheaper to get a minimum realistic valuation possible from the RICS surveyor if the house is not to be sold immediately.

    If the beneficiary of the house is different to the residual beneficiary in the will then yes getting a higher IHT valuation price is the best to reduce future CGT as someone else will be paying the increased IHT that results.

    All the above is very well known by all RICS surveyors when they are in discussions with Executors over exactly what value are they going to put on a house.
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