Pass on your pension without paying inheritance tax

The 2015 pension reforms make it easier for you to ensure your heirs avoid inheritance tax when you die

Chancellor Sajid Javid has gone quiet on inheritance tax reform
(Image credit: 2019 Getty Images)

Will the new Conservative government’s first Budget on 11 March abolish inheritance tax? Chancellor Sajid Javid said in September that he was mulling significant reforms, but there were no firm proposals in the Conservatives’ election manifesto and he has gone quiet on the matter.

The good news, however, is that the pension system now offers a golden opportunity to cut, or even wipe out, a potential liability. Since the pension freedom reforms of 2015, pensions have become a key inheritance-tax planning tool.

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David Prosser
Business Columnist

David Prosser is a regular MoneyWeek columnist, writing on small business and entrepreneurship, as well as pensions and other forms of tax-efficient savings and investments. David has been a financial journalist for almost 30 years, specialising initially in personal finance, and then in broader business coverage. He has worked for national newspaper groups including The Financial Times, The Guardian and Observer, Express Newspapers and, most recently, The Independent, where he served for more than three years as business editor.