Who pays the inheritance tax on a pension?
The personal representatives of your estate pay it, and they are normally your executors.
The personal representatives of your estate pay it, and they are normally your executors.
The pension scheme does not pay it, although the tax can be settled out of the pension money in two specific ways.
They can do this before the grant of representation, and the scheme has to respond within 28 days of a valid request.
It is treated as though you were entitled to it immediately before death, and the estate's nil rate bands are set against the whole.
The liability is theirs. An earlier plan to make scheme administrators responsible was dropped after consultation.
They are jointly liable with the executors, and solely liable for a pension discovered after the executors have obtained clearance.
A beneficiary who receives a pension the executors did not know about becomes solely liable for the tax on it.
Only where it is directed to. A scheme is not liable for the tax and will not pay it unless a valid direct payment notice or withholding notice applies.
The beneficiary who received it becomes solely liable for the tax on it once the executors have clearance, so trace every pension before applying.
Where the whole pension goes to a spouse or civil partner it is exempt, so there is no tax to report on it. Schemes can pay an exempt spouse without waiting.
We can help you trace every pension you hold, so your executors have a full list.
Independent Financial Adviser
Independent Financial Adviser
Your first call is with an Account Manager and is at no cost to you. Tell us what is on your mind: a pension you have lost track of, a fixed rate ending, a will you keep meaning to write.