Tax – Inheritance, Income & Capital Gains

Our expertise includes advising on:

• succession planning and inheritance tax efficient Wills;
• the inheritance tax and capital gains tax treatment of trusts;
• the inheritance tax and capital gains tax implications of owning, selling or gifting business property and agricultural property; and
• the tax implications on buying or selling property

Inheritance Tax

Efficient Inheritance Tax planning will ensure that the gifts you make to your family, whether in your lifetime by way of outright gifts to individuals, or by way of lifetime gifts into trusts, or via your Will, will mitigate as far as possible the inheritance tax payable on your estate. At the same time, it is fundamental that all factors, including non-tax factors, are considered and you should not gift so much that you leave yourself exposed financially. Our team will be able to advise you on current inheritance tax rules and keep you up to date with any changes through the years.

We can also advise on related tax issues such as inheritance tax on gifts where the donor reserves a benefit in the gifted asset and the related pitfalls of pre-owned assets tax.

Capital Gains Tax

Capital gains tax implications can arise at various stages of your life. This might include the sale of your main residence, selling a business or disposing of an asset. Bear in mind that a gift is also a disposal for capital gains tax purposes, thereby giving rise to a tax charge without any cash proceeds to meet that charge. Robust advice and forward planning may help to reduce or avoid your liabilities and help you to make best use of reliefs such as business asset disposal relief (formerly known as entrepreneurs’ relief). Our team will talk through your options and advise on the best possible outcome.

Income tax

Where you jointly own property with someone, you may wish to restructure how you hold property in order to make best use of your personal allowances and relative rates of tax. We can assist with the income and capital gains implications of this. You should also consider Stamp Duty Land Tax on any property transaction.