Labour’s manifesto is expected to halve the inheritance tax threshold to £425,000 ( i.e. two nil rate bands and two 2017/2018 residential nil rate bands) according to the Evening Standard.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell confirmed on BBC radio that if Labour is successful at the general election he will ‘reverse the tax giveaways that favour the better off’. A shadow Treasury spokesman told the Evening Standard that
Labour’s manifesto released in the week will prioritise a fair tax system that “stands up for the many, not the few”.
“Labour do not support the Inheritance Tax giveaways announced by the Tories, as according to their own figures only 26,000 fewer estates would have no tax liability in 2020-21 at a cost of almost £1 billion,” the spokesman added.
A very good example of why inheritance tax planning is always best executed earlier rather than later and is thoroughly considered before, during and after execution. Governments, all governments, can and will move the goalposts as the need for tax revenues increase over the next few decades.
