Government to reduce IHT liability on pension assets
The UK government is looking to change the regulations regarding pension assets which have until now been subject to total tax charges of up to 82% upon the death of the underlying individual. The new proposals will see a 55% tax charge on any remaining pension fund assets upon the death of an individual with the balance able to be transferred to any other individual and not fall within IHT regulations.
This will be a major improvement on the current pension fund set up which effectively taxes the vast majority of remaining funds and indeed those who acquire annuities will see their income streams die with them. Pension fund assets have always been a bone of contention for the UK public due to the high charges associated with them upon the death of the underlying beneficiary. The truth is that the more assets that an individual is able to leave behind the less pressure this will place upon the UK benefit system in due course and ultimately it is a win-win situation for all involved.
Over the last two weeks we have seen a constant drip feed of positive news on the pension front with a number of major changes for the future. Is there more to follow?
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