Instead, they must make a claim and hope they qualify. If an armed forces member dies in active service, then the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre – responsible for managing armed forces casualties – will send a certificate and paperwork to their family, to be sent to HM Revenue and Customs.īut families of ex-servicemen who died from their injuries years after leaving the military will not be sent anything.
“Many families may be unaware of the need to proactively claim relief and, whilst they are potentially dealing with many other challenges as a result of the death of a loved one, this is an additional and unnecessary burden to deal with.” Stuart Robinson, chief executive of military children’s charity Scotty’s Little Soldiers, said: “As a nation we should be doing everything within our power to support bereaved service families and not leaving them disadvantaged due the huge sacrifices they have paid in the service of their country. The exemption is not also not easy to claim and requires detailed records. It would be absolutely wrong if veterans’ families are needlessly paying inheritance tax.” Sir Michael, Conservative defence secretary from 2014 to 2017, said: “If this is the case it should certainly be looked into. Under complicated inheritance tax legislation introduced in 1984 the estates of armed forces members who die from a wound, accident, or disease suffered in active service are spared from the death duty under Armed Forces Relief.īut families whose relatives die years after the service are not told how to make a claim, prompting fears many will have missed out. It comes as The Telegraph is campaigning to abolish inheritance tax and more than 50 Conservative MPs have called on the Prime Minister to scrap it ahead of the next election.Īn overwhelming majority of Telegraph readers have backed our campaign and called on Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to abolish the tax in the Autumn Statement later this year. Relatives of those who died serving their country do not have to pay the hated 40 per cent death duty but are often unaware, military charities and solicitors warn. Families of dead war heroes may have needlessly paid large inheritance tax bills, the Telegraph can reveal.įormer defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon is among those to call for an investigation amidst fears that grieving military families could have been wronged by the taxman.
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