MONEY
Should everyone get a £500,000 inheritance tax allowance?
IHT is one of the most hated taxes. We ask two experts if the present system of two allowances should be simplified
Bill Dodwell, the former tax director of the Office of Tax Simplification, which was an independent office of the Treasury
The residence nil-rate band was introduced in 2017, as George Osborne’s promise was fulfilled to give a married couple a £1 million allowance against inheritance tax so that parents could leave the family home to their children.
The allowance is £175,000 per person but it is withdrawn if the estate exceeds £2 million, so the benefit is focused on the lower end of the 41,000 estates a year that pay the tax. So, those whose estate is worth less than £2 million can pass on £500,000 of assets, including a main home, tax-free — £1 million per married couple or civil partners.
Increasing the nil-rate
