Advice
Writing a Will is not compulsory. Neither is visiting the dentist or having your car serviced. But in the long run, it pays dividends. A Will gives you control over what happens to your money and possessions after you die. It certainly makes life easier for whomever sorts out your affairs. It’s a way of…
Technology may be taking over our lives but the digital age is in its infancy. Where we will be in 20 years is anyone’s guess. Whether it be banking or shopping or car insurance, our affairs are conducted more and more these days on mobile phones and laptop computers. These things need to be secure…
It’s often claimed that tax inspectors have more power than the police. Perhaps we’ll leave that debate to the civil liberty lobbyists. But it is a fact that Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) officials leave no stone unturned in their pursuit of what is rightfully theirs – which, in effect, means ours. Some people…
Time and tide wait for no man – just like the taxman. You may have thought that inheritance tax is paid once you have been granted probate, ie, the legal authority to dispose of a dead person’s money and possessions. But, in fact, the reverse is true. Probate will not be granted until a receipt…
Life presents us with many challenges. And so, sadly, does death. At a time when we are struggling to come to terms with the loss of a loved one, we must also deal with the red tape. Stripping away the emotion, we have to reduce the deceased’s life to numbers. To us, he or she…
What is the most unpopular tax in the UK? Polls suggest the answer is inheritance tax. But I wonder why. Sometimes our perception is not borne out by the facts. Did you know that only about 4% of estates are actually liable to pay it? And that means 96% are exempt, for various reasons. Generally…
They do say you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Surely there can’t be any pitfalls when someone gives you a large sum of money. Can there? I’m given half a million pounds by a rich uncle (I wish!). He dies the following year. Suddenly I’m hit with a tax demand for £70,000.…
Giving it all away, as The Who’s frontman Roger Daltrey sang in 1973, is one way to stop your estate being clobbered by the taxman. Not surprisingly, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs are wise to that ruse and have rules in place to ensure the flow of inheritance tax they receive is not reduced to…
RED-top tabloids refer to it as a ‘death tax’. But that may be considered a tad unfair. In fact, inheritance tax is only due if the value of your estate – which does include your home – is valued at more than £325,000. And anything left to a spouse or a civil partner or a…
Capital Gains Tax (CGT) was introduced by Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer James Callaghan in 1965 to plug a loophole. It means you are taxed on the profit you make from selling an asset that has increased in value. CGT applies to things like land, shares, personal belongings and property. But it is not due…