Inheritance Tax Planning

We regularly help clients to mitigate their inheritance tax liabilities.

Thoughtful and bespoke planning can ensure your estate is structured in the most efficient way to minimise your tax obligations.

Your family is unique, and your tax advice should be too.

Individuals have inheritance tax allowances of £325,000, which are reduced by certain types of gifts made in the seven years prior to death (or beyond in certain circumstances).    

All Individuals are entitled to an inheritance tax (IHT) allowance of £325,000. Often referred to as a nil rate band (NRB), this will decrease when certain types of gifts are made in the seven years prior to a death (or beyond in certain circumstances).  

Married couples and those in civil partnerships can now transfer allowances to one another on death meaning that qualifying couples potentially have allowances of up to £650,000 provided the relevant conditions are met.

Certain individuals are also eligible for a residential nil rate band allowance of £175,000. This allowance can also be transferred between spouses and civil partners meaning that qualifying couples can have a further allowance of £350,000 provided the relevant conditions are met. 

The conditions to enable an individual’s estate to qualify for the residential nil rate band can be quite complex. We can provide specialist advice about whether your estate will qualify and offer practical solutions to enable you to utilise your residential nil rate band.

We advise clients on how they can mitigate their inheritance tax liability. This can be through substantial planning like the creation of trusts, the making of lifetime gifts and also through restructuring inheritances received from the generation above. 

We also advise those with business or farming interests on how to maximise the benefit of the valuable inheritance tax reliefs that are available to them. 

There are also less complicated ways of mitigating inheritance tax problems. These include the purchase of life insurance and for life insurance policies to be written in trust where possible. 

Following recent changes in the law relating to pensions these have become a more attractive way of mitigating inheritance tax liabilities. These matters often involve the input of a financial adviser and we work with clients’ existing advisers where appropriate to ensure that a suitable plan is in place.

You may qualify to pay Inheritance Tax at a reduced rate of 36% if you leave at least 10% of your net estate to charity. HMRC have produced a calculator that will tell you whether a bequest already made is sufficient to qualify for the reduced rate. The calculator can be found here: Gov UK: Inheritance Tax Checker

Our experienced team can advise you about what your likely inheritance tax liability will be and help you to put plans in place to mitigate your inheritance tax liability.