A tax called I(H)T

15 May 2012

Proofreading the 2012/13 version of Marketing-hub.co.uk’s Guide to Inheritance Tax last week, I was overcome by an even greater sense of melancholy than is normal when I undertake this important if not wholly thrilling task. The reason, I quickly realised, was because life for my family could have been a whole lot easier over the last 20-odd years if only my maternal grandfather had succumbed to a spot of IHT planning.

Now, I am not after your sympathy here. I do not imagine an awful lot of the burgeoning genre of ‘misery lit’ centres around IHT-related deprivations. Dickens and his contemporaries may have had their fun with will-based plots but, while I have never and never will read Angela’s Ashes, I would guess it did not stem from Frank McCourt’s grandfather effectively bequeathing 40% of his estate to the taxman.

Perhaps it is only a matter of time before someone writes that book, however, because one theme permeating ‘misery lit’ is that the ‘misery’ part – and some might say the ‘lit’ bit too – is just so unnecessary. To concentrate solely on IHT from hereon, there would appear to be only two reasons why my grandfather, a solicitor for more than 40 years, did not plan ahead.

Either he was genuinely concerned my mother and her siblings would kick him out onto the street or else it came down to something sitting on the scale between apathy and negligence. While the former reason, however unlikely the reality, no doubt nags away at many more people than my grandfather, the latter is plain unforgivable.

Since Gordon Brown closed many of the loopholes in his 2006 Budget, IHT is no longer quite the ‘voluntary’ tax it was once considered. However, as our guide points out to your existing and potential clients: “Careful planning to ensure you take advantage of all the allowances and reliefs available could save you a lot of money relatively easily. It is never too early to start.”

If only my grandfather had accepted that simple point then who knows where I would be now? Or was Marketing-hub.co.uk always my destiny? Maybe writing my memoirs would help me work it all out …