Can I pay for my daughter & young family to have central heating installed without the taxman hounding them if I die soon?

Hi MrsStrange and welcome to the forum.

This is a case of your magnaminity versus your perceived fear of the bureaucracy of the tax man and I can well understand why you ask.

If I quote the HMRC's guidelines on this matter :

"Annual exemption - You can give up to ?3,000 away each year, either as a single gift or as several gifts adding up to that amount - you can also use your unused allowance from the previous year but you use the current year's allowance first" .....

Hopefully the cost here would be encompassed in those allowable amounts but if you instruct and pay the installer direct, it is your bill and you could always make it provisionally a cost that is regarded as a loan and hence not gifting of any sort although I really don't think you need worry. My mother helped me out like this countless times when she was alive and frankly I would just do it ( as per what I have said above ) and feel good that you are doing something worthy and admirable.

Oh what a lovely mother! Bearing in mind the cost of installing central heating isn't going to be huge in the average house I'd just do it! As Snoopy says, it will be within the limits of exemption

Hi,

Just to add to Snoopy's advice don't forget than anything gifted becomes exempt after 7 years irrespective of its value, and only estates worth more than ?325,000 (?650,000 joint) on death will be subject to inheritance tax anyway.