Financial Services

Sutton McGrath Hartley sets up new Residential Mortgages division

Sutton McGrath Hartley sets up new Residential Mortgages division

Time to overhaul inheritance tax?

July saw the publication of the long-awaited second report on inheritance tax (IHT) from the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) with a range of useful proposals. Focused on simplifying the structure of IHT, the report, contained some surprises, not only in the recommendations it makes, but also in those areas it has left untouched. A new take on gifts The OTS suggests that the annual exemption (£3,000 since 1981) and the wedding gifts exemption (a maximum of £5,000 and a minimum of £1,000, unchanged since 1975) should be combined into a single ‘personal gift allowance’. While no specific number was pinned on the new allowance, the OTS did note that the annual allowance would be £11,900 in 2019/20, had it been inflation proofed. Currently you need to survive seven years for any lifetime gifts not to form part of your estate on death and, in some instances, gifts made up to 14 years before death could affect the level of tax payable. The OTS says that only gifts made within five years of death should be relevant. That sounds like good news, but there is a sting in the tail: the OTS wants to scrap taper relief, which currently reduces […]

The Risks of Late Estate Planning

Imagine you are named as the executor and a beneficiary of your wife’s wealthy aunt. You learn that she is suffering from terminal cancer and has ‘a very impaired lifespan’. What do you do?

This is what happened in the case of Nader and others v Revenue & Customs. The executor/beneficiary, a Dr Nader, decided to consult a leading firm of accountants about inheritance tax (IHT) mitigation options for Miss Dickins (the aunt).