What gifts can you make?
Gifting is a good way to help the people you care about whilst you are alive. It helps you reduce the value of your estate for inheritance tax purposes.
You can make as many gifts of £250 in a tax year as you want as long as it is to different people. You can gift up to £3000 in a tax year which is transferable over two tax years but after that it is lost. If you are a parent, you can gift up to £5000 towards your child’s wedding. Grandparents can gift £2500 everyone else £1000.
You can give an outright gift to someone, this then becomes potentially exempt transfer, providing you survive seven years it will be free from IHT unless any subsequent gifts fail to satisfy this rule. The use of trusts is always a good idea.
