Giving White Paper supports inheritance tax incentive

The Government has supported changes in inheritance tax in the Giving White Paper, released today (Monday 23 May). The Paper supports the reduction in the rate of inheritance tax from 40 per cent to 36 per cent for estates leaving 10 per cent or more to charity, from 6 April 2012. The changes in inheritance tax, which were first announced in this year's Budget, are designed to encourage more people to leave money to charity in their wills. Remember A Charity makes the following comments, following the launch of the Paper: Remember A Charity welcomes the Government’s move to make charitable legacies the social norm. Remember A Charity’s research shows that only 7% of the UK leave a charitable gift in their will. If we can increase this by just 4% we can raise a further £1 billion a year for good causes – the equivalent of a further 10 Red Nose appeals. But the Government needs to look beyond its announced inheritance tax breaks as a sole driver for change, which will only benefit around 6-7% of the UK. The Government also needs to do more to educate people about the importance of writing a will, which is intrinsically linked to legacy giving. Currently around only two in five of the UK has a will.