Any gift, large or small, helps our staff, doctors and nurses to support the patients and families of those with terminal illness.

However, a gift to St Wilfrid’s could also help reduce the Inheritance Tax on your estate (what you leave when you die).

Inheritance Tax is what used to be called Death Duties and is the Tax raised by the government of the day on the value of all of what you own at the time of your death. This can include houses, stocks and shares, pensions, insurance policies, annual service benefits, PEPs/ISAs, and savings accounts.

Successive governments have always set a threshold level above which tax is payable (this is like Income Tax and Personal Allowances we pay during our lifetimes). In the case of Inheritance Tax the present level is £325,000 for an individual and £650,000 for couples.

Above this figure tax is paid at 40%, or £4,000 in every £10,000 above the threshold. Some 40,000 estates each year are subject to taxation and the money goes to the government to use as they wish.

Most people don’t realise that inheritance tax can also be applied to large gifts you can make up to seven years before your death. However, any gifts made to your spouse or civil partner, or to a charity you care about is free of tax. Such gifts are deducted from your estate before inheritance taxis calculated.

So if these gifts reduce the value of your estate to below the threshold, it would be no longer liable to taxation.

This means that many people can make a significant contribution to St Wilfrid’s with less of an effect on the value of what they leave to other beneficiaries (friends and family).

Of course, everyone’s financial situation is different, so this guide can only provide a general outline of how inheritance tax might affect you. There are other issues that may affect the level of your inheritance tax, so you should ask your solicitor or accountant about your particular circumstances.

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