Lockdown & Wills: The Latest
Lockdown has prompted the government to update the 183-year-old rules on witnessing wills. But some solicitors think reform is unnecessary and risks creating a contentious probate spike. Wills have stubbornly resisted the digital world. While many legal documents, including deeds…
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Office of Tax Simplification to review CGT
The Chancellor has asked the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) to undertake a review of capital gains tax (CGT) and aspects of the taxation of chargeable gains, in relation to individuals and smaller businesses. In his letter commissioning the review,…
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Inheritance Tax, Crucial Reliefs & Covid 19
Many thousands of people in the UK have lost their lives during the Covid-19 pandemic and about 5% of those deaths will probably result in an inheritance tax charge. Inheritance tax is charged on the estate of a deceased…
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Time to Secure Crucial Business Reliefs before they Fade Away?
Business Property Relief and Agricultural Property Relief are both ways of passing on assets without needing to pay Inheritance Tax. The reliefs can currently achieve up to a 100% tax saving, meaning assets that fall into these categories – such…
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What issues does Covid-19 raise for Estate Planning in 2020?
Massive public spending during the Covid-19 crisis means the government will almost certainly increase taxes in the short to medium term. Additional austerity seems implausible and government borrowing is already stretched. The government will be emboldened in its revenue-raising task…
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Covid 19 & Tax Planning
By the time we emerge from the Covid 19 crisis the UK will be vastly more indebted. Households, companies and the state will be carrying much more debt and be much more risk averse. The Bank of America believes the…
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Capital Gains Tax on Property: The Imminent 6 April 2020 Changes
The current crisis is completely absorbing for most of us but there are, nevertheless, important tax changes which it is well to remember will be effective in a few days time. From 6 April 2020 a minor overhaul of capital…
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Covid 19, Wills & Tax Planning
Covid 19, Wills & Tax Planning Ian Bond TEP, chair of the Law Society’s wills and equity committee, recently stated to the Daily Telegraph that levels of requests for will drafting are now up 30 per cent. That corresponds to what I have…
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Inheritance Tax and the 2020 Budget
After several months of noise regarding changes to inheritance tax Rishi Sunak’s budget avoided even tentative adjustments to the tax altogether. Headline predictions included a reduction of the rate from 40% to 10%, removal of lifetime gifting allowances, and the…
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Trust Registration Obligations: Update Early March 2020
“The immanent extension of the online UK Trust Registration Service (TRS) to cover express trusts without any tax consequences, under the EU Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD), is likely to extend the number of registrable trusts from around 200,000…
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