Inheritance Tax Reporting Changes Effective from 1 January 2022
Following changes to the excepted estates rules from 1 January 2022, certain Inheritance Tax forms can no longer be used for deaths after 31 December 2021 where the estate is non-taxpaying. A different process must be followed. The new rules…
Read more
Changes to French succession laws – is it still possible to prevent French forced heirship rules applying to French property?
Recent changes to French succession laws threaten the ability of a British national to prevent the French forced heirship rules from applying to their French assets, using the provisions of the EU Succession Regulation. For most UK citizens, the big…
Read more
Inheritance Tax: Where Things Currently Stand
The autumn budget has passed without incident despite some flagging up potential seismic changes to inheritance tax and capital gains tax. That is no surprise at all. Any changes on that scale are more likely later in this governments term…
Read more
Inheritance tax and The Acceptance-in- Lieu scheme (“AIL”)
As a general rule the assets of a deceased person over the value of the nil rate band (currently £325,000) are chargeable at 40% inheritance tax. However, since 1910 the UK government has encouraged those administering estates, responsible for ensuring…
Read more
Scottish holiday accommodation loses BPR despite service provision
A legatee who inherited her father’s furnished holiday accommodation business failed to persuade the First-tier Tax Tribunal that it was ‘relevant business property’ for the purposes of business property relief under the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 (IHTA). The property was…
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more
Inheritance Tax in the New Era
Inheritance Tax in the New Era: 2020 When Sajid Javid, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, hinted at the 2019 Conservative Party conference that scrapping inheritance tax ‘was on his mind’ he was merely taking his place in a long…
Read more
Tony Benn’s estate reduces estates inheritance tax by £210,000 – Planning Tip.
The archive of the late Tony Benn has been donated to the British Library under the acceptance in lieu scheme, allowing his family to reduce a substantial inheritance tax bill. The enormous collection, comprising several hundred thousand documents and recordings…
Read more