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Many people choose to donate to charities during their lifetime. Lifetime donations and gifts under a Will to charities are exempt from Inheritance Tax. This article explores the benefits of leaving money to a charity under the terms of your Will.

Gifts to charities are exempt from Inheritance Tax regardless of the value of the gift. The current Inheritance Tax rate is 40% but if you leave at least 10% of the taxable value of your estate to charity the Inheritance Tax rate is reduced to 36%.

The taxable estate is calculated by deducting a deceased’s tax-free allowances from the net value of the estate as at the date of death.

This means that an estate worth £1,000,000 with two nil rate bands available of £325,000 would have a taxable estate of £350,000 and therefore to qualify for the reduced rate of Inheritance Tax at least £35,000 would need to pass to charity.

If you are considering making a gift to a charity under your Will it is important to calculate the taxable estate. If the gift you are intending to make equates to 4% of your taxable estate, you can increase this to 10% without any reduction in the amount your other non-exempt beneficiaries receive.

Example

The charity in the above example would receive an additional £16,000 without any loss to the non-exempt beneficiaries.

If the gift to charity is less than 10% of the net estate, it may be possible for the deceased’s beneficiary to increase the gift to charity after the testator’s death by executing a Deed of Variation so that the lower rate of 36% applies to the rest of the estate.

For further information on tax planning or charitable gifts please contact one of our Tax Planning experts today.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Please note that the law may have changed since this article was published.