High Court grants urgent hearing on Labour’s inheritance tax overhaul Legal The High Court has green-lit an urgent hearing at the High Court over the government’s inheritance tax raid on agricultural assets and family firms. The proposed changes to agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR) represent one of the biggest shifts in UK inheritance tax (IHT) policy in decades, following the government’s initial [...]
Ministers urged to extend ‘nightmare’ deadline for paying inheritance tax Personal Finance The UK government has set an unrealistic deadline for inheritance tax payments on unused pensions, a House of Lords committee has warned. The House of Lords economic affairs committee urged the government to extend the deadline for pension fund personal representatives, who are typically estate executors, from six months to 12 months. The committee argued [...]
Lawyers warn farmers: Labour’s U-turn on IHT threshold “not an all-clear” Legal Lawyers warned that, despite Labour’s U-turn on the inheritance tax relief threshold for farms, many agricultural families may still be impacted, and significant tax burdens may remain for some estates. In a whiplash U-turn, the Labour government revealed on Tuesday that, after a year of backlash from rural communities, it would increase the Agricultural and [...]
Labour U-turns on inheritance tax raid after year of farmer protests December 23, 2025 The Labour government will raise the inheritance tax relief threshold for farms in another dramatic U-turn following a year of backlash from rural communities. On Tuesday, the Treasury and Department for Food and Rural Affairs said it would increase the Agricultural and Business Property Reliefs threshold to £2.5m from £1m when it is introduced in [...]
High net worths rejig estates as inheritance tax overhaul looms September 24, 2025 The high-net-worth clients of a leading wealth manager are rearranging their estate planning to get ahead of potential changes in the Budget, fearing the Chancellor will mount another inheritance tax grab to help plug the Treasury’s £30bn fiscal hole. Rathbones said that interest from its customers in inheritance-related advice has “risen sharply” since the start [...]
Investors focus on securing family’s financial future ahead of tax changes September 9, 2025 UK investors are prioritising passing on their wealth to family members in order to avoid the damage of looming tax raids, fresh research has found. Over 50 per cent of people approaching retirement ranked passing on wealth as a top priority, up from 32 per cent in 2023, according to a survey from BRI wealth [...]
Angela Rayner under pressure to clarify property questions amid hypocrisy accusations September 1, 2025 Angela Rayner is facing mounting scrutiny over her property portfolio, with accusations that she avoided £40,000 in stamp duty and questions around a house valuation in her constituency. These suggestions are made more embarrassing by her dual roles as deputy prime minister and housing secretary. The Times has reported on the “remarkable coincidence” that, at [...]
Rumoured changes to inheritance tax gifting spark concern for middle-class August 15, 2025 Reeves is looking at measures to increase revenue from inheritance tax by tightening gift rules, a move that may disproportionately affect the middle class.
Inheritance tax crackdown will not spark family farm firesale, study finds August 14, 2025 Most farmers will be able to shoulder the inheritance tax bill foisted on them by the Treasury at last autumn’s Budget without having to sell their family farm, according to a fresh analysis which also proposed new ways the reforms could be “better targeted.” The paper, from independent tax think tank the Centre for the [...]
Inheritance tax: Reeves could change thresholds and crack down on gift rules August 13, 2025 Rachel Reeves is exploring measures to extract more revenue from inheritance tax (IHT) ahead of the Autumn Budget, as she looks to plug a massive fiscal blackhole without breaking Labour election promises on tax. According to a report in The Guardian, the Treasury is looking into changes to thresholds as well as tightening the rules [...]