Military personnel who die directly or even indirectly from injuries or diseases suffered during active service can claim full exemption from inheritance tax (IHT).
This is a little known loophole that probably few military families will know about.
Military people who die on active service are always exempt from IHT – but try finding out more information on the Inland Revenue’s own website; you could be there for hours!
No doubt the families of those who have been serving in the middle east in recent years will need to keep note of this knowledge.
However, the difficulty is not in claiming or remembering to claim IHT exemption from those who die directly in service, as most will be ‘younger’, not having amassed estates big enough to need to claim IHT relief. The biggest problem will be in trying to link properly and conclusively that someone may die of a disease or injury contracted some 50 years earlier during a conflict.
Perhaps the military themselves should do more to inform all personnel, on a regular basis, whether current or ex service, that they might be able to make IHT exemption claims in later life. One might think that it’s not good for the military to talk about death, but it is their responsibility to keep people informed. After all, death is more likely in active service than in non active service.
Filed under: Legal Advice, News
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