When one reads an article concerning taxation in the national press it is rare for it not to be riddled with errors. In our experience, the Telegraph is the most accurate national newspaper in writing about taxation but even its articles are often error-strewn. In a previous point (‘A long way from home?’ April 2022) we pointed out that its article on the controversy over the domicile status of Rishi Sunak’s wife was full of mistakes.
An article (‘Worthless family businesses could face £1m inheritance tax bills’) which was published in the Telegraph on 5th December 2024 would seem to repeat this pattern of errors although perhaps in reliance on a press release by a major professional firm. The article pointed out that the IHT relief for falls in the value of shares and securities after death given by IHTA 1984 Part VI of Chapter III applies only to quoted shares and securities and not to unquoted holdings. As a result, business owners might, the journalist asserts, inherit shares which, if the testator is the major force behind the business, suffer a catastrophic fall in value due to the testator’s death, and still be subject to IHT on the value before that fall.
It is true that relief under Chapter III only applies to listed shares and securities but most decreases in value due to the testator’s death are likely to be taken into account under IHTA 1984 s.171 and, in any event, are likely to be reflected in the shares’ or securities’ value immediately before the testator’s death because immediately before a person’s death, his death is likely to be predictable. Even in respect of an individual killed in a car accident, for example, the death is likely to be a near certainty in the instant before it occurs.
There are many good reasons supporting the view that the Government’s proposals to reduce APR and BPR will damage our economy and are foolish in the extreme. There is no need to manufacture bad ones.
