Why Osborne's £1m IHT exemption isn't all good news

Why Osborne's £1m IHT exemption isn't all good news

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The Conservative's £1m IHT property exemption was a headline grabber for the government but has actually made estate planning a lot harder, writes Rachael Griffin

The £1m property inheritance tax (IHT) exemption, was a great headline grabber for the Conservative party, however, in reality, all this has done is make IHT a lot more complicated. The ‘main residence nil rate band' as it is known, has added a further ten pages of legislation to the Finance Bill, and added an extra layer of complication to estate planning. A far simpler approach would have been to increase the existing standard nil rate band of £325,000 in line with house price inflation. This could have delivered a greater benefit in ‘real' terms. New main residence nil rate ba...

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