News editor's view: The IHT effect

The news editor's Friday Night Takeaway from 28 August

Isabel Baxter
clock • 3 min read

Recent reports have made me think about how far clients are willing to go to mitigate inheritance tax – and how IHT will become an even more integral part of retirement planning going forward.

Said to be the UK's most hated tax, HMRC receipts for IHT continue to hit record highs, with £8.5bn collected in the 2025/26 tax year. With pensions now coming into the IHT arena from April 2027, and more people potentially caught in the net as thresholds remain frozen, it doesn't seem the love for the tax is going to grow anytime soon. Considering all the above, I'm sure advisers are continuing to see clients seek ways to mitigate the tax – and advising them to do so, whether through gifting, exemptions or other reliefs.  In a more public example, comedian and actor Ricky Gervais ope...

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