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Warning issued over HMRC's inheritance tax clampdown

HM Revenue & Customs is clamping down on the under-valuation of probateproperties, it has been warned.

Best Property Services in Newry also claimed that in thousands of cases, HMRCinsisted on a revaluation so more inheritance tax (IT) is handed over, andhas also levied huge fines.

IT is payable if the assets of an estate total more than £325,000.

In many cases, the deceased person's property is by far the major asset in anestate andthis alone can eat up most ofthe threshold.

Brian Clarke, chartered surveyor at Best, said: "A charteredsurveyorcan provide the relative data such as recent sales and market comparisonsfrom multiple sources and will give thebeneficiaries and executors theinformation they need to prove the property has been accurately valued.

"This not only shows a clear audit trail for compliance purposes andproof of duty of care for the beneficiaries, but will ensure that the estatedoes not incur unwanted tax penalties in thefuture," Brian adds.