Inheritance tax: how your pension can help you plan your estate

Pensions can help you minimise your family’s potential inheritance-tax bill. David Prosser explains how.

Mother, child and piggy bank
Topping up your children’s savings can be a useful gift
(Image credit: © Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The wheels of government grind slowly. The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) first published recommendations for reforms to inheritance tax (IHT) almost two years ago, but ministers have yet to respond in detail.

The Treasury did write to the OTS last month, but only to say it was still considering most of the proposals. And in the meantime, the number of people caught by IHT continues to rise: the £325,000 threshold on estates has not been increased since 2009.

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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.