IHT: Is your property related?
Valuing assets such as land and buildings is potentially tricky for various tax purposes, including inheritance tax (IHT) on making a chargeable lifetime transfer, or on death. One area of potential difficulty is valuing joint interests in land and buildings. For example, a property in London may be jointly owned, such as by spouses or […]
Gifts to and from a company: Don’t forget IHT!
Transactions between a company and its owners are relatively common, particularly in owner-managed and family companies. Where an asset is being transferred to or from a ‘close’ (i.e. broadly a closely-controlled) company, most taxpayers (or their advisers) will normally be concerned about whether there are any potential capital gains tax or corporation tax implications for […]
IHT on death: An unfortunate tale
When someone dies, family members or friends may have the responsibility of dealing with the deceased’s estate. This may involve (among other things) applying for a grant of representation (in England and Wales), reporting the value of the deceased’s estate, and paying any inheritance tax (IHT) liability. Important responsibilities There is a lot of information […]
What’s your business really worth?
Business property relief (BPR) is a valuable inheritance tax (IHT) relief. The rates of BPR are 100% or 50%, depending on the type of relevant business property. For example, BPR at 100% can potentially shelter the value of an individual’s business from IHT on the owner’s death, if certain conditions are satisfied. For BPR purposes, […]
What’s your business really worth?
Business property relief (BPR) is a valuable inheritance tax (IHT) relief. The rates of BPR are 100% or 50%, depending on the type of relevant business property. For example, BPR at 100% can potentially shelter the value of an individual’s business from IHT on the owner’s death, if certain conditions are satisfied. For BPR purposes, […]
What do you ‘hope’ your property is worth?
It is often necessary to value assets such as a property for inheritance tax (IHT) purposes. For example, if an individual makes a lifetime gift of an investment property in the UK to a discretionary trust, it will normally be necessary to ascertain the market value of the property transferred, as there will be an […]
IHT planning? HMRC want to know!
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) want to find out about new tax avoidance and ‘unacceptable’ tax planning arrangements as soon as possible, so that anti-avoidance rules can be introduced to block any schemes and arrangements as it considers necessary. Out with the old… The disclosure of tax avoidance schemes (DOTAS) rules were introduced in Finance […]
Trusts: Tax traps to avoid!
The use of trusts is a fairly popular way of passing wealth down generations. For example, an individual (who is resident and domiciled in the UK) may wish to set up a discretionary trust to hold an investment property, to provide income to family members, and ultimately a capital asset that will hopefully appreciate in […]
IHT: Don’t look back in anger!
Many taxpayers are aware of a ‘seven year rule’ for inheritance tax (IHT) purposes. They assume this rule to mean that if (for example) a parent gifts an investment property to their adult offspring, the gift will escape IHT if the parent survives at least seven years after making the gift. Seven years…or is it? […]