Alliance and Leicester have warned that people should take financial advice or risk losing thousands in inheritance tax. Their Investment Wealth Tracker Index found that only 26% of people with estates worth at least £275,000 sought advice on this subject last year, although 8 in 10 people said that they would be interested in learning how to minimise inheritance tax, which has previously been thought of as a tax only on the rich.
More and more people are seeing their estates creep over the tax-free threshold of £275,000 due to recent increases in house prices. Ninety five per cent of those with estates valued above the threshold say that they are planning to leave their house and other assets to loved ones. The figure in London was slightly higher, at 96%, while 78% said that they would like to learn more about minimising the tax. In the Midlands and Wales, the figure for those wanting to learn more was 63%, but it was those in Scotland who were the least interested, with only 7% saying that they have taken professional advice on inheritance tax.
Our view
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