{"id":347539,"date":"2025-08-15T21:43:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T21:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/347539\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T21:43:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T21:43:13","slug":"rumoured-changes-to-inheritance-tax-gifting-spark-concern-for-middle-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/347539\/","title":{"rendered":"Rumoured changes to inheritance tax gifting spark concern for middle-class"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\tFriday 15 August 2025 12:26 pm\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tShare<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"social-share__popup-item\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\tFacebook\t\t\t\t\t\tShare on Facebook\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n<li class=\"social-share__popup-item\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\tX\t\t\t\t\t\tShare on Twitter\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n<li class=\"social-share__popup-item\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\tLinkedIn\t\t\t\t\t\tShare on LinkedIn\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n<li class=\"social-share__popup-item\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\tWhatsApp\t\t\t\t\t\tShare on WhatsApp\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n<li class=\"social-share__popup-item\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\tEmail\t\t\t\t\t\tShare on Email\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img width=\"742\" height=\"495\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/01JBEMTVJCVK3PSPTGEZGX1SPR-e1730298064324.jpg\" class=\"media \" alt=\"\" fetchpriority=\"high\" loading=\"eager\" decoding=\"sync\"  \/>\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Rachel Reeves is reportedly exploring measures to increase revenue from inheritance tax by tightening gift rules, a move that may disproportionately affect the middle class.<\/p>\n<p>The Guardian has reported the Treasury, ahead of the Autumn Budget, is considering tightening the rules surrounding the use of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cityam.com\/inheritance-tax-reeves-could-change-thresholds-and-crack-down-on-gift-rules\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> gifts of money<\/a> to circumvent IHT.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, cash gifts are exempt from tax as long as they are made more than seven years prior to the person\u2019s death. Then, gifts made within three to seven years are taxed based on how close the recipient is to death.<\/p>\n<p>This move comes as Reeves is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cityam.com\/rachel-reeves-needs-50bn-tax-raid-to-stick-to-fiscal-rules-economists-warn\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">seeking to gather \u00a350bn in new taxes<\/a> before her next Budget to avoid breaking the government\u2019s fiscal rules.<\/p>\n<p>Inheritance tax planning <\/p>\n<p>Gifting is a legitimate form of inheritance tax planning, not just for the super-rich, but also for middle-income taxpayers, explained a lawyer.<\/p>\n<p>Duncan Mitchell-Innes, partner and deputy head of private client at TWM Solicitors, said: \u201cGifting assets is a legitimate and long-established way for middle-income households to reduce IHT, it\u2019s not a complex tax scheme reserved for the super-rich.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a class=\"read-more__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cityam.com\/inheritance-tax-reeves-could-change-thresholds-and-crack-down-on-gift-rules\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Inheritance tax: Reeves could change thresholds and crack down on gift rules<\/a><\/p>\n<p>According to HMRC inheritance tax data for 2020\/21, families gave away over \u00a32.1bn in cash gifts each year to reduce their IHT bills.<\/p>\n<p>However, the rumoured move may disproportionately affect middle-class families than ultra-high net worth individuals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is because their wealth is often less diversified, thus presenting fewer options for how to make tax-efficient gifts from it,\u201d Mitchell-Innes explained.<\/p>\n<p>He highlighted that people have expectations that they are free to give away their assets as they wish. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe rumoured changes are causing people concern that their freedom to engage in prudent and sensible estate planning may be severely curtailed,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>If the rules are changed, middle-class families will be more exposed, \u201cas many ultra-high-net-worth individuals are very mobile and can restructure or relocate to mitigate tax exposure, perhaps more easily than most middle-class families.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a class=\"read-more__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cityam.com\/labour-warned-tightening-inheritance-tax-would-stymie-growth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Labour warned tightening inheritance tax would \u2018stymie growth\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\tSimilarly tagged content: <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tSections\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tCategories\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tPeople &amp; Organisations\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Friday 15 August 2025 12:26 pm Share Facebook Share on Facebook X Share on Twitter LinkedIn Share on&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111399,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3093],"tags":[51,474,2499,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-347539","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-finance","10":"tag-personal-finance","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115034967516701979","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}