More than a quarter (28%) of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) have not put measures in place to address inheritance tax (IHT) or to increase the tax-free assets that they hope to pass on, according to wealth manager Saltus.
The firm’s survey, which assessed 2, 000 people in the UK with investable assets of £250,000 ($317,226, €290,630) or more, revealed that 8% of these respondents intend to put IHT plans in place at some point.
Some 4% have not thought about it; and 2% do not plan on taking any measures at all to mitigate the impact of IHT.
Saltus also found that of those HNWIs who do have measures in place to pass on their wealth, 64% have already passed it on or plan to pass it on to friends and family as gifts.
Around two thirds (65%) have bought or plan to buy a funeral plan. The findings also showed that 61% will be leaving money to charity or have already made a gift to charitable causes as part of their inheritance planning.
Mike Stimpson, partner at Saltus, said: “It is surprising that a quarter of HNWIs do not have IHT plans in place, as we know that people want to leave as much of their wealth to their loved ones as possible and proper planning can ensure this happens.
“The years where IHT applied only to the UK’s wealthiest are long behind us. Over the last 20 years, we have experienced a boom in UK property, which means many more of us will be impacted by IHT and need to consider which measures to put in place.
“It has been widely reported that the government held talks about scrapping IHT. Given that our latest research shows that over a third (36%) of HNWIs feel that they already pay too much tax, the removal of IHT (if it were to happen) would likely be welcome news to them, as well as to the increasing number of people becoming subject to this tax.”
