Legacies

Legacies: Did you know? 

There are tax benefits to leaving a gift in your will to a charity: 

1. Gifts to a charity are exempt from inheritance tax.  Any gift to a charity will be taken off the value of your estate before inheritance tax is calculated. Tax is payable on estates over £325,000* (subject to some exemptions including gifts to your spouse, civil partner, or a charity). With rising property values, many more estates are now becoming subject to inheritance tax.  
2. If you leave 10% or more of your estate to a charity, your inheritance tax rate will be reduced from 40% to 36%*.  The lower tax rate means that your favourite charity will receive some of your estate and carry on its good cause, rather than the government. 
   An example. If your assets, including your property, were worth £450,000. After the tax-free threshold of £325,000, you would pay tax on the balance of £125,000 at the rate of 40% which is £50,000. If you paid 10% of your estate to a charity, this would be deducted for the purposes of calculating inheritance tax, and the rate of tax would be reduced to 36% which means a lower tax bill of £28,800, so £21,200 less to the government. 

If you would like to leave a legacy for Helpful Hounds Assistance Dogs please advise your Solicitor (or advisor) when making a new will or considering changes to an existing will.

* Correct at the time of publication, November 2022.