Posts Tagged ‘Inheritance Tax’
Residential Nil Rate Band Increase (6 April 2020)
The Residential Nil Rate Band (RNRB) was originally introduced in April 2017 as an additional Inheritance Tax (IHT) allowance, with the aim of allowing families to pass on up to £1m of their estate without IHT becoming payable. The RNRB allowance has been increasing each April, until reaching its maximum allowance claimable at £175,000 per…
Read MoreHow powerful is the Taxman?
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…
Read MoreHow long have I got to pay Inheritance Tax?
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…
Read MoreWhen do I have to complete form IHT400?
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…
Read MoreExploding the myth about Inheritance Tax
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…
Read MoreHow receiving a Gift can actually Cost you Money
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.…
Read MoreHow to Minimise Inheritance Tax
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…
Read MoreWhen is Inheritance Tax due?
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…
Read MoreWhat have Amazon, Uber and Kings Court Trust got in common?
Amazon began doing it by selling books online. Uber began doing it by using smartphone technology to undercut London’s traditional black cabs. And now Kings Court Trust is doing it in estate administration. It’s all about disruption. This word has been used, some say incorrectly, to describe new businesses that enter a market and displace…
Read MoreWhat are Probate Forms?
I’m afraid there is no escaping the laborious task of form filling if you are tasked with sorting out the money and possessions of someone who has died. Applying for probate – the legal authority to dispose of a dead person’s estate – is done by completing form PA1, which can be downloaded from www.gov.uk.…
Read More