{"id":588640,"date":"2026-04-06T07:20:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T07:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/588640\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T07:20:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T07:20:21","slug":"labour-refuses-to-extend-deadline-for-grieving-families-with-decision-slammed-as-inhumane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/588640\/","title":{"rendered":"Labour refuses to extend deadline for grieving families with decision slammed as ‘inhumane’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Treasury has rejected calls to extend the inheritance tax payment deadline for families dealing with unused pension funds.<\/p>\n

Despite a January recommendation from the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee to increase the timeframe from six to 12 months, ministers have confirmed no changes will be made.<\/p>\n

Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury Dan Tomlinson told peers the Government would maintain the current system.<\/p>\n

“The Government does not intend to change the existing, longstanding deadlines which ensure tax is collected quickly and efficiently.”<\/p>\n

He added: “IHT is due at the end of the sixth month after the date of death.”<\/p>\n

Those who fail to meet the deadline face late payment interest of 7.75 per cent.<\/p>\n

Pensions commentator Sir Steve Webb said: “It’s inhumane . . . No consideration has been given to the human dimension of this. Often bereaved people have a lot to cope with.”<\/p>\n

\"Labour\"\/<\/p>\n

Inheritance tax deadline row as Treasury rejects calls to extend payment period<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

“What difference would six months make to the Government, compared with the difference it would make to families?”<\/p>\n

Mr Webb said families rely on pension schemes to provide key information, including valuations and beneficiary details, which can delay the process.<\/p>\n

He added: “So for a lot of people, this process can take a while, at a time when you’re dealing with loss, grief, funeral arrangements.”<\/p>\n

Roger Liddle raised concerns about how the policy would operate in practice despite supporting its broader aims.<\/p>\n

\"Reeves\"\/<\/p>\n

The measure is expected to raise \u00a31.5billion annually by 2030<\/p>\n

| GETTY<\/p>\n

Lord Liddle said there could be complications where deaths are unexpected, multiple pension schemes must be traced, or where different personal representatives are involved.<\/p>\n

The committee’s January report warned the current deadline could expose personal representatives to financial risk.<\/p>\n

It said the policy “could mean that personal representatives become liable for inheritance tax on assets they cannot access or control, creating cash flow pressures.”<\/p>\n

Head of Public Policy at AJ Bell, Rachel Vahey, said: “It is easy to see how many, many estates and beneficiaries are going to face late interest payments at an excruciatingly high rate of four per cent above base rate level.”<\/p>\n

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced changes to inheritance tax treatment of pensions in her first Budget in autumn 2024.<\/p>\n

From April 2027, unused pension funds will be included in estates for inheritance tax purposes.<\/p>\n

Official estimates suggest an additional 1.5 per cent of estates will become liable for inheritance tax in 2027-28, adding to the four per cent already above the \u00a3325,000 nil-rate band.<\/p>\n

The threshold can rise to \u00a3500,000 when a main residence is passed to direct descendants.<\/p>\n

Inheritance tax is charged at 40 per cent on amounts above the threshold, although transfers between spouses and civil partners remain exempt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Treasury has rejected calls to extend the inheritance tax payment deadline for families dealing with unused pension…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[64,63,99,186,36756,12072,187,4363,184,185,84,4961,21173],"class_list":{"0":"post-588640","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-finance","12":"tag-inheritance-tax","13":"tag-labour-party","14":"tag-money","15":"tag-pensions","16":"tag-personal-finance","17":"tag-personalfinance","18":"tag-politics","19":"tag-tax","20":"tag-uk-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}