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Britons may be able to avoid paying inheritance tax by using their home | Personal Finance | Finance
House prices are at the highest they have ever been and most of the time they are the biggest, most expensive asset a person may have. Currently, a person will pay inheritance tax if the value of their estate, which is property, possessions and money, is over the nil rate band threshold which is £325,000. This has remained at this level since April 6, 2009 and will remain the same until at least 2028.
If an estate is worth more than this threshold, it will be taxed at a rate of 40 percent, and if it’s below, then inheritance tax does not need to be paid.
Due to the sky-high house prices, a person’s home will usually take up the majority of a person’s tax-free threshold with inheritance tax and “careful” planning is needed in order to avoid getting caught in the inheritance tax net.
Daniel Boyle, director at Freeths LLP said: “With the nil rate band frozen until 2028 many more families are being pulled into the inheritance tax net, and careful inheritance tax planning is required by an ever-increasing pool of people.”
People do have the ability to prevent their home from being dragged into this net as under the current inheritance tax rules, Britons are able to pass on their home entirely free from inheritance tax by giving their property to a spouse or civil partner when they die.
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People can also top up the threshold with the residence nil-rate band (RNRB) which is currently at £175,000 if they pass on their home to their children or grandchildren.
The resident nil rate band was brought in in 2017 and can increase someone’s inheritance tax allowance to £500,000.
Mr Boyle said: “In broad terms, the change in the legislation is to increase the amount of a person’s estate which can be passed on free from inheritance tax, where their estate includes their main residence, by providing an additional nil rate band, the resident nil rate band.”
However, this only applies to “direct descendants” so nieces and nephews, or friends do not qualify.
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People can gift their property away if they move out and then live for another seven years, due to what is known as the seven-year rule.
According to these rules, gifts given in the three years before death are taxed at the full 40 percent.
Anything given three to seven years before the death is then taxed on a sliding scale known as ‘taper relief’.
The rate drops every two years, with the rate of tax dropping to 32 percent, 24 percent, 16 percent and eight percent.
If someone wants to continue living in their property after giving it away, they will need to pay rent to the new owner at the “going rate”.
Under the current rules, the rent will need to be similar to other local rental properties and cannot be discounted, so people aren’t allowed to give “mates rates”.
Otherwise, it counts as a “gift with reservation” and will be added to the value of their estate.
A gift with reservation is a gift that is not fully given away because the person making the gift keeps back some benefit for themselves.
Sometimes people do not have to pay rent, which applies when a person has only given away part of their property and if the new owners also live in the house.
Mr Boyle added: “It is important when undertaking any inheritance tax planning, to receive professional advice from regulated advisors and ensure that you are aware of all associated risks when considering making lifetime gifts or utilising lifetime trust structures.
More than half of Americans are worried that the development of AI will cause them or someone in their household to lose their job, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos survey. The study also revealed a broad anxiety over the technology’s rapid adoption.
The survey showed 53% of Americans expressed concern, according to the six-day study that finished on Monday. This concern was distributed pretty evenly among respondents by age, gender, and educational attainment.
A total of 10% of respondents were either unsure or chose not to respond to the question, while 37% of respondents claimed they were not concerned about this at all.
The software company Intuit announced last month that it would lay off 17% of its global workforce in order to streamline operations and sharpen focus on its main bets, including its AI efforts. The Reuters/Ipsos survey came after a wave of AI-related job layoffs by large corporations.
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When Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, talked about the implications of artificial intelligence at a graduation ceremony last month, University of Arizona students jeered him.
Elected officials and even Pope Leo XIV have issued concerns due to its potential use in entertainment, political propaganda, and even warfare.
It’s unclear whether the U.S. job market, as a whole, will be negatively impacted by the numerous job losses that have been reported at IT companies. Recent months have seen significant job growth in the U.S. economy.
Republicans, who have drawn more working-class voters since President Donald Trump’s ascent, are less sceptical of AI than Democrats, whose party draws more college graduates. Compared to 47% of Republicans, 61% of Democrats expressed concern about AI replacing jobs in their home.
The results of the Reuters/Ipsos survey, which polled 4,531 American adults countrywide, had a two percentage point margin of error in either direction.
Jennifer Schalhoub, a 62-year-old freelance writer from Little Ferry, New Jersey, stated that she just lost her employment sending letters to government authorities to support particular legislation. She believes the development of AI played a part in her loss.
“People are becoming less concerned with the calibre of the job that is generated, which is why AI is taking over,” according to Schalhoub.
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In 2022, artificial intelligence gained national attention when OpenAI, a prominent AI company, introduced ChatGPT, a consumer-facing product that could respond to user inquiries like that of a human and provided a new method of internet search that immediately threatened Alphabet, the parent company of Google.
Another AI behemoth, Anthropic, has rapidly gained popularity among business clients, particularly through the sale of computer coding assistance, Claude Code. Anthropic and OpenAI’s intentions to offer their companies’ shares to the general public have created a lot of excitement on Wall Street.
According to the Reuters/Ipsos survey, 50% of college graduates said they often use AI, compared to 34% of non-graduates and 40% of the general population.
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The government has extended the validity of the Credit Guarantee Scheme for Microfinance Institutions-2.0 (CGSMFI-2.0) until August 31, 2026, or until guarantees worth Rs 20,000 crore are issued, whichever comes first.
It has also approved an increase in the maximum loan limit for large sized NBFC-MFIs and MFIs from Rs 300 crore to Rs 1,000 crore under the overall ceiling of 20% of assets under management, according to an official release.
The scheme aims to strengthen credit flow to the microfinance sector by providing guarantee cover through the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Co. against expected losses on lending by banks and financial institutions to NBFC-MFIs for onward lending to small borrowers.
As of now, loans totalling Rs 770 crore have been sanctioned under the scheme, reflecting early traction since its launch on March 20, 2026.
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The extension and enhancement in loan limits are expected to improve utilisation of the scheme and support higher credit flow to the NBFC-MFI ecosystem, thereby expanding access to affordable credit for small borrowers across the country.
The government has also retained key risk sharing provisions under the scheme, including guarantee coverage of 80 percent of default amount for small MFIs, 75 percent for medium entities and 70 percent for large NBFC-MFIs, along with a guarantee fee of 0.50 percent per annum on sanctioned amounts in the first year and on outstanding thereafter.
Interest rates under the scheme remain capped at EBLR or MCLR plus 2 percent per annum, while on-lending norms ensure lower borrowing costs for end microfinance customers.
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Elon Musk’s SpaceX has attracted over $250 billion in investor demand for its initial public offering (IPO), far above the $75 billion the company is aiming to raise, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing sources privy to the development.
The IPO, seen as the world’s biggest-ever, has recorded subscription of four times the original ask. According to reports, wealth funds based in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have placed orders ranging from $1 billion to $5 billion each.
According to Reuters, SpaceX is still in the middle of its marketing campaign. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and finance head Bret Johnsen were scheduled to attend a lunch meeting with roughly 300 institutional investors on Tuesday at Morgan Stanley in downtown Manhattan, which was hosted by Morgan Stanley Co-President Dan Simkowitz, Reuters reported.
Rather than final allocations, which will be determined at pricing, subscription levels show indications of interest.
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In its roadshow presentation and IPO documents, SpaceX highlights the strength of its Starlink internet business as well as the distinctive character of its rocket-launching business, which it claims has been responsible for the majority of mass launched into orbit over the last three years.
Additionally, SpaceX highlighted a $23 trillion market potential, which the company linked to its artificial intelligence capabilities.
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