Meg Saksida considers various ways property can be protected from IHT in the death estate.
The main residence, although exempt for capital gains tax, is not exempt for inheritance tax (IHT) purposes. Usually, it will be taxed at 40% of the probate value at the date of death.
Residence nil rate band
However, the Conservative party election manifesto in 2015 promised to “take the family home out…[of IHT] with a new transferrable main residence allowance of £175,000 per person”. This was indeed introduced, and the ‘residence nil rate band’ (commonly known as the ‘RNRB’) was born. The RNRB is able to be claimed for deaths from 6 April 2017. Although the band was gradually phased in over four years starting with £100,000, the current and future tax years will have the full