No changes to the Inheritance Tax (IHT) or Capital Gains Tax (CGT) regimes

The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) were tasked with reviewing and reporting on possible changes to the capital tax regimes.  They provided their first report about how to the simplify administrative procedures of Inheritance Tax (IHT) in November 2018 and their second report on the design of IHT in July 2019. This included suggestions such as changing the 7 year rule for gifting to a single lifetime personal gift allowance, the removal of the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) uplift on death if there is also an IHT relief on an asset and increasing the proportion of a business that needs to “trading” to qualify for Business Relief, amongst others.

Two similar reports about CGT were published in November 2020 and May 2021.

However, on the first UK Tax Administration and Maintenance Day, it has been confirmed that no significant changes will be made to either the IHT or CGT regimes for the time being.

A few minor technical changes have been adopted from the OTS’s recommendations, including extending the 30 day window for CGT reporting on UK residential property to 60 days; which is welcomed.