Families see £608m bill for Inheritance Tax

Official figures obtained by the Daily Telegraph show that close to 2,000 families have been ordered to pay back millions in IHT over the past five years by HMRC, falling foul of so-called “gift with reservation of benefit rules”. Among them were parents who had gifted their homes to their children for tax purposes, but who continued to live in the properties without paying market rates of rent. Experts warned that more families faced being caught up in the HMRC crackdown, as the growing tax burden on households, combined with the cost of living crisis and rising house prices, drive up levels of tax avoidance. Andy Butcher, of wealth manager Raymond James, said: “We get calls regularly from people trying to do this, but unless they pay rent to their children they risk the plan backfiring later – and HMRC will clamp down on it.”

The Daily Telegraph

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