Back in the 80’s the then Chancellor of the Exchequer uttered these now infamous words:
“Inheritance Tax is a voluntary levy paid by those who distrust their heirs more than they dislike the Inland Revenue”
Now, almost 40 years on the fundamental principle of those words remains the same – Inheritance Tax can be effectively managed and minimised where possible.
Every year HMRC receives billions of pounds in Inheritance Tax payments.
Inheritance Tax is a tax charge on any part of your estate that exceeds your personal allowance or nil rateband. Your estate is defined as the combination of your property, savings and investments, other assets and any gifts you gave away in the seven years leading up to your death.
Inheritance Tax is charged at 40%. If you give away at least 10% of your estate to charity, the rate drops to 36%.
In April 2017, a new “Residence nil rate band” was introduced for passing on the family home. The allowance is currently £100,000.
The nil rate band is your personal allowance that is free from Inheritance Tax. It is currently £325,000 per person. Unused allowances can be transferred between married couples and civil partners when they die. So you could potentially pass on up to £650,000 without your beneficiaries paying any Inheritance Tax.
Gifting is the easiest and cheapest form of estate planning. Gifts can take different forms and they all have different tax treatments and benefits. They can be for a specific purpose such as paying for children’s school fees, a house deposit. Gifts can have different Inheritance Tax treatments depending on the value of the gift, when it was made and who it was given to.
Trusts make it possible to give gifts to others while keeping control over the money. Usually when you set up a trust you can choose who receives the gift and when. With certain trusts you can also make gifts while continuing to benefit from the money in some way.
Pensions don’t form part of your estate and are therefore free from Inheritance Tax. Since 2015 the Finance Act was amended and the Pension Death Tax removed. This has freed up the opportunity for Pensions to be used to pass on an inheritance tax-efficiently.
Finally, there are bespoke solutions that offer all-encompassing Inheritance Tax Planning. These solutions are proven in terms of efficiency, ease of set up and accessibility. Speak to one of our Experts at Ten Forward and book in a free consultation
We sit down and talk about everything… get to know you, your plans, your family and your finances.
We delve into your finance in more detail.
We produce our advice document. Some good bedtime reading
We help you implement the chosen solution
Once completed we review and provide additional options
Because things change
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