Death on Active Service

Little known and often overlooked, the Death on Active Service (DOAS) exemption provides a complete exemption from Inheritance Tax arising on death. With an ever increasing number of ordinary people being caught in the lHT trap, any instance where IHT completely avoided is to be welcomed.

The DOAS exemption can apply particularly - but not exclusively - to the current generation that is in its 80s, who served, for example, in WWII, and who are now dying. However, it can also apply to forces currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan who are either killed in active service or who may die later as a result of an injury sustained whilst on active service.

It is an exemption that the Revenue does not appear to support, but has no part in the decision to grant. In fact, the DOAS exemption far wider than its title suggests. It is granted by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), where a person dies from a wound inflicted, an accident occurring or a disease contracted whilst on active service, whenever that active service might have been.

Contact: Stuart Thorne