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Wealthy landowners are rushing to give away their estates to their children ahead of the general election.
Families are concerned that inheritance tax reliefs could be tightened under a Labour government, advisers said.
Joseph Adunse, partner at Moore Kingston Smith and an adviser to landed estate owners, told The Telegraph that those worried about being landed with tax bills have fast-tracked property transfers.
He said: “There’s obviously concern about whether or not there is enough funding for Labour’s plans.
“People do and have given away some assets and wealth in readiness for any changes, effectively to reduce the value of estates that will potentially be within scope,” he said.
Under the current rules, inheritance tax is charged at 40pc on anything over £325,000. This increases to £500,000 if a home is being left to children or grandchildren.
Agricultural property relief provides up to 100pc relief from inheritance tax to those passing on farmland and farmhouses. Business property relief also provides up to 100pc tax relief and aims to prevent businesses being sold or split up on death.
Rachel Reeves, shadow chancellor, threatened in 2021 to examine “every single tax break” that taxpayers can apply if Labour came to power, including relief for farmers.
The shadow Defra secretary Steve Reed confirmed in December last year that the party has no plans to change inheritance tax rules that stop farms being divided in the event of the landowner’s death. But an Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank report last month recommended abolishing tax reliefs, including agricultural and business exemptions and taxing some pension pots, to raise £3bn for the economy.
The report found that capping agricultural and business property reliefs at £500,000 per person could raise £1.8bn extra tax in 2029-30.
Mr Adunse said that it was those with significant wealth, of more than £20m, who were looking most closely at the rules.
Gifts given away during a person’s lifetime are typically exempt from inheritance tax, as long as the present was made more than seven years before death. Transfers between spouses are always exempt from the tax.
More than half of property owners with estates worth more than £1bn view minimising tax as the primary reason for succession planning, a survey by accounting firm Saffery and Historic Houses revealed earlier this week.
It comes after a record year for inheritance tax receipts, as a result of tax threshold freezes and rising home values. Receipts for the tax were up nearly 14pc this April compared to last year, bringing in £700m, figures from HM Revenue and Customs showed.
The Labour Party was contacted for comment.
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