Sale of land after death for less than the IHT value

In the immediate aftermath of the referendum, in which the majority of voters favoured the UK leaving the European Union, there has been some turmoil in the financial markets. Some of this, no doubt, represents an unwinding of short-term positions taken on the basis of what have turned out to be very wrong assumptions. But there are clearly a number of longer term uncertainties, both economic, and political. No doubt, at some time, these will be resolved when there is a new Prime Minister in office, and possibly a new leader of the opposition party. In overall economic terms, it seems likely that the trading relationship between the UK and the EU will be uncertain for some time to come. Against this background, not to mention signs of a wide economic slowdown, it would not be surprising if property values were adversely affected, raising the possibility that, where ‘pre-Brexit’ property values have been used for IHT charged on the estate of someone who died before 23 June 2016, the proceeds realised on a later sale may be lower. In this situation, a relief may be available under chapter 4 of Pt 6 Inheritance Tax (IHT) Act 1984.