Following the recent upward surge of house prices, the Council of Mortgage Lenders is urging the Government to increase the stamp duty threshold from the current level of £60,000.
Following house price rises, the Council of Mortgage Lenders believes the Government is now raking in £2.7bn as opposed to £675m in 1996. What the Council of Mortgage Lenders failed to say was that the levels raked in by Inheritance Tax are also likely to rocket.
The threshold for Inheritance Tax is currently £250,000. This amount includes all property a person owns, including their house. And, as house prices have soared, many people are seeing the threshold exceeded by the value of their house alone. This means that the value of anything else will get taxed at 40%.
It will be very interesting when the Budget comes round to see if the Stamp Duty and Inheritance Tax thresholds are raised significantly.
Do you have an inheritance tax liability? You could know in one minute by using our inheritance calculator.
We have a full range of other calculators in the Interactive Zone.
Are there ways to plan for inheritance tax and reduce it? Yes, visit the Inheritance Adviser.com.
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