Neil MacGillivray: IHT and gifts that keep on giving

In the run-up to the end of the tax year, I received a lot of questions on the use of the £3,000 inheritance tax (IHT) annual exemption. It was clear from some of the questions asked that there was confusion around how the exemption works and the importance of the order in which gifts are made. Like many aspects of life, issues tend to arise when putting into practice something you had previously only contemplated in theory. The fact that lifetime gifts up to a total of £3,000 per donor per tax year are exempt from IHT is straightforward. There are, however, a number of points you have t...