July Budget 2015: Conservatives to announce end to inheritance tax on properties worth less than £1m
The Budget will spell the end of inheritance tax on homes worth up to £1m.
In the new budget on Wednesday George Osborne is expected to make the announcement, saying it is “only right” that the change be made.
Read more: Is the government about to change how it taxes pensions?
Exempting homes up to £1m has left the policy open to criticism that it favours the rich, but Cameron and Osborne disagree. In a joint article for the Times, they wrote:
As we promised in our manifesto, we'll take the family home out of inheritance tax for all but the richest.
It can only be right that when you've worked hard to own your own home, it will go to your family and not the taxman.
Currently a couple with an estate worth £1m would pay around £140,000 in tax. The office for budget responsibility (OBR) has estimated that the 6.5 per cent of deaths eligible for inheritance tax would rise to 11.6 per cent by the 2019 – 2020 financial year.
The average cost of a house in the UK was £271, 000 in April this year according to the ONS, with London leading the way.
