Shield first-time buyers on lower incomes from inheritance tax raid, Reeves told

First time homebuyers on lower incomes should be exempt from any planned new inheritance tax raid , the Chancellor has been warned.

Rachel Reeves is said to be eyeing up an increase to taxes applied to gifts of assets or money, in a bid to shore up public finances in her next Budget.

She is under pressure to ensure any changes do not hinder first time buyers who might rely on financial gifts to get on the property ladder and faces calls to exempt those on lower incomes.

U-turns over money-saving policies, such as cuts to winter fuel payments and disability benefits, have left the government with a multibillion-pound spending gap to fill.

And, according to reports, Reeves is considering generating income by introducing a cap on the lifetime gifts that can be transferred before death w