Anyone neglecting inheritance tax (IHT) planning, under the assumption that a Conservative government would eradicate the death tax for the majority of families, is walking a financial tightrope.

Skipton Financial Services warns that the confusion created by shadow business secretary Ken Clarke’s comments is yet more evidence that adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach on IHT could prove extremely costly.

Andrew Barker, chief operating officer at Skipton Financial Services, says, ‘George Osborne and the Tory party received rave reviews for their £1 million IHT pledge in October 2007, but we were on record at the time saying that there were far too many hurdles in place before this pledge would become reality for UK families. Our advice to our clients has always been the same – that it is a dangerous game to assume you know what will happen in the future, especially in politics, so you need to plan for what you know.

‘With even David Cameron admitting that it could take four or five years to implement any new policy on IHT, it is imperative that anyone with a potential IHT liability seeks advice now, rather than assuming that their problems will be solved by a future government.  

Barker points out, ‘Even if the Conservatives are voted into power, the state of the country’s finances at present makes it by no means certain that they could afford to implement it, even if they still wanted to.  

‘Ken Clarke is an experienced and well-respected politician so his initial comments about the IHT policy being “aspirational” are probably a better reflection of the current situation than the subsequent damage limitation exercise from the Tory party.’