Lets start with the definition of Inheritance Tax Inheritance Tax is a tax paid on the Estate (the property, money, and possessions) of someone who has died. What is the threshold for tax of Inheritance Tax? We each have an Inheritance Tax Allowance of £325,000, any assets above this people are subject to Inheritance Tax at 40% once said person has passed away. In cases where we have unused inheritance tax it can be passed to your spouse or civil partner, meaning that couple have a total Inheritance Tax Allowance of £650,000. In addition to this, the Residential Nil Rate Band Allowance has been introduced. This allows you to claim an additional £175,000 of tax-free allowance, if you give away your home to your children (including adopted, foster or stepchildren) or grandchildren. This means your Inheritance Tax threshold can increase to £500,000 or £1,000,000 for a couple. But be aware that there is normally no Inheritance Tax to pay if either: The value of your Estate is below the £325,000 threshold You leave everything above the £325,000 threshold to your spouse, civil partner, a charity, or political party. Even if the Estate value is below the threshold, you will still need to report it to HMRC through Probate. Can I reduce the level of Inheritance Tax I pay? There are many steps you can take to reduce or mitigate your Inheritance Tax liability and protect your legacy for your loved ones and beneficiaries.Pease bear in mind that you should seek professional advice to understand which one is best to minimise your liability. Ensure you have a valid will Having a valid Will is the critical starting point to Estate Planning. Making a Will is one of the most important things you can do to ensure your Estate goes to who you want and that your wishes are carried out. If you do not have one, you need to make one. If you have one, it must be reviewed to ensure it is up to date and valid. Insure against your Inheritance Tax liability Life Insurance is an often underused, overlooked and yet remarkably simple and cost-effective solution to an Inheritance Tax problem. Let us assume there is an inheritance tax liability on your death of £100,000, you could simply choose to take out a life-insurance policy for £100,000. As long as it is the right type of policy, paying into the right type of Trust, it will provide the money to your beneficiaries on your death so they can pay the Inheritance Tax from the life insurance proceeds and don’t have to find the money to pay the tax bill themselves. Depending on your age and health, we often find that Clients pay far less in life insurance premiums than they ever do in Inheritance Tax. Give your Assets away You could choose to give some of your wealth away before death occurs. However, there are some important rules to be aware of. First is the Seven-Year Rule which says that if you give away some of your wealth, then in order for that wealth to be outside of your Estate for Inheritance Tax purposes, you need to survive for seven years after the gift has been made. Second is the Gift with Reservation of Benefit Rule. which says it must be a true gift. If you give some of your assets away, for example you sign your house over to your children before you die, then you cannot reserve some kind of benefit or use of that house. You would have to pay your children the full market rent value to continue living in the property and you cannot receive any of that rental back as a gift from your children. If you do, then the seven-year clock doesn’t even begin to tick and the value of your property or any money you have received will be counted back into your Estate for the purposes of Probate upon your death.. Inheritance Tax Investments Investments can also be an excellent way to solve an Inheritance Tax problem. The Government have a range of investments which they exempt from Inheritance Tax that you can choose to use. These type of investments are not available from your high street banks or building societies, these are true investments into the market, so it’s no good just simply saying if a particular investment works for Inheritance Tax then you should put all of your money into it. It is important that you take specialist investment advice from a specialist Financial Adviser. Whether that’s us or somebody else, it’s critical we make sure that any investment strategy meets ALL your investment needs, including what risk are you happy to take with your money, do you need access to capital, income or both, what growth are you expecting? Spend the kids Inheritance! If you have an Inheritance Tax problem and you are happy that you have more money than you need to look after yourself for the rest of your life, you may want to start considering spending some of that wealth now, on things that you enjoy. Whether that is booking the holiday of a lifetime or buying the car you always wanted think of it like there is a 40% sale on permanently! Every time you spend £10,000 of your money, that’s £4,000 that won’t be going to the Inland Revenue. If you have done everything in life you want to do, but still have more money than you need, then why not consider spending your wealth on whoever your beneficiaries are now. Why do we wait to pass the wealth to the next generation when we die? We don’t get to see the amazing effect we’ve had on our loved ones with this wealth and for those of us left behind, it’s bittersweet, because yes, we’ve received the family wealth but we’ve also lost somebody we love at the same time. If we are going to give some of that wealth away before we die, it comes back to the earlier point about doing it safely and the best way to do that is through our Protective Family Trusts. There are a whole range of different Trusts we can choose to use for our loved ones. Some examples would be an Education Trust. If you like the idea of paying for your children or grandchildren’s private school fees or higher education. There is a Deposit Trust that is becoming far more popular these days with parents or grandparents wanting to help their loved ones get on the property ladder. It enables you to give them the deposit, but you can give it to them through a Protective Trust so that if their future relationships don’t work out then the deposit you gave to them is safe and stays with your loved ones. There is even a Mortgage Trust. If you like the idea of paying off your adult child’s mortgage for them. With any of these gifts, as long as you survive 7 years, the gift will be outside of your Estate for Inheritance Tax purposes, saving 40% tax and the Trust will keep this gift safe and protected for your beneficiaries. When is Inheritance Tax due? Inheritance Tax must be paid within six months of your loved one’s death, and interest will start to be charged by HMRC thereafter. Typically, the taxes on an inheritance will be taken out of the deceased Estate. Usually, the deceased will have appointed an Executor in their Will to take care of this. However, HMRC expect to be paid before Probate is granted and other than some exceptional cases, the beneficiaries have to make arrangements to settle the Inheritance Tax bill before they can receive their Inheritance and recoup the Inheritance Tax bill value. What if no Inheritance Tax is due? If no Inheritance Tax is due, you will still have to report to HMRC and provide an Estate Value calculation. For this reason, the first thing to do when someone dies is to calculate the total value of the Estate. This is the role of the Executor or appointed Administrator. If you want further advice please get in touc h with our team who will offer a free consultation

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