Inheritance Tax
Inheritance Tax
INHERITANCE TAX
This communication is for general information only and is not intended to be individual
advice. It represents our understanding of law and HM Revenue & Customs practice.
You are recommended to seek competent professional advice before taking any action.
CONTENTS
CONTENTS
03 Introduction to Inheritance Tax
04 Writing a Will
05 Lifetime Gifting
07 Using Trusts
10 Insurance Solutions
10 Passing on Pensions
Although you may be familiar with the basic operation of inheritance tax (this is known as the inter-spouse
of inheritance tax, it’s always useful to have a refresher, exemption) and the survivor can ‘inherit’ their unused
especially when it comes to the new ‘family home NRB, which is how you arrive at the above position with
allowance’ (officially called the Residence Nil Rate Band) £650,000 of tax-free allowance.
over which there is a lot of confusion and misinformation.
As such, if we have a married couple with total assets of
Inheritance tax is charged on the estate of someone who has £650,000 and one of them dies and leaves everything to
died (and on a select few lifetime transfers of assets). Before their spouse, the survivor now has the full £650,000. When
inheritance tax is charged, you are allowed to deduct any the survivor dies, they can leave their full £650,000 estate
exempt amounts from the estate total. Anything that is not free of IHT (assuming they did not make any gifts within 7
exempt is charged inheritance tax at a rate of 40%. years of their death – more on this later).
The basic Nil Rate Band (NRB) is currently £325,000 and In addition to the Nil Rate Band, we also now have the
it has been this way for just over a decade. The NRB is Residence Nil Rate Band (RNRB). This is a new allowance
the standard inheritance tax free allowance that you can that was introduced by the Conservative government
leave on your death. Each individual has a NRB and so in 2017 in an attempt to reduce the IHT burden on
for a married couple, you have two allowances giving a increasing property prices.
total tax free amount of £650,000.
The RNRB is a complex allowance with all sorts of
When the first to die in a marriage or civil partnership caveats and exceptions attached, so it is important to
leaves all their assets to the survivor, they pass free make sure you have a full understanding.
The RNRB is £150,000 in the 2019/20 tax year a 2:1 basis. Meaning that for a single person,
and will increase to £175,000 in April 2020. in 2020/21 the RNRB is lost when the estate
From April 2021 onwards, the allowance (and the exceeds £2.35m and £2.7m for a married couple.
standard NRB) is expected to increase each year
in line with inflation. As a result of the above rules, it is thought
that relatively few estates will qualify. This is
In order to benefit from this new allowance, because in order to claim the new allowance
there are a number of criteria that must be met you need to own your current or former family
as follows: home (many people don’t own a home), your
estate needs to be over £650,000 as a married
n You must own a family home at the time of your couple (£325,000 single) and under £2.7m
death. This is defined as the home that is your (£2.35m single) in 2020/21 and you need to
main residence or a home that you still own that have children or grandchildren to pass the
was your main residence in the past. There are property to.
special protections for people who downsize or
sell their property to go into care for example (as While the Residence Nil Rate Band is ultimately
long as the sale took place on or after 8 July 2015). a welcome addition to the IHT landscape, its
n Your family home must be left to ‘direct implementation is needlessly complex and
descendants’, broadly defined as children many people will be ineligible to claim. As such,
and grandchildren. it is more important than ever to ensure that
n Your estate must be worth more than your estate planning is in order to maximise the
£325,000 (single) or £650,000 (as a married benefit of this valuable allowance.
couple) in order to need to claim the new
allowance (otherwise you are covered by the The remainder of this guide will consider a
normal tax free amount). number of strategies that you can use to
n If your estate is worth over £2m, the Residence mitigate your IHT liability, starting with the
Nil Rate Band starts to get tapered away on humble will.
WRITE A WILL
A will is the most basic estate planning tool we have made a will. This is all the more shocking when
available. A will serves a number of purposes, but at you consider that people in this age bracket
the most basic level, it is a tool to ensure that your often have significant financial assets and
wishes will be carried out when you have gone. property wealth.
If you die without a will, you are said to have Although a will is always something that is
died ‘intestate’ and, in effect, the government will tempting to put off, we encourage people to put
decide who gets your money in this situation. a will in place as soon as possible.
As such, a will is a must for anyone even A will can be instrumental in reducing your IHT
remotely concerned about their estate planning. liability, especially with the introduction of the
A will can also be used to begin implementing new Residence Nil Rate Band. If your current
planning to reduce your IHT liability. will was drafted before the introduction of the
RNRB in 2017, it would be a good idea to get this
Statistics from the Law Society suggest that professionally reviewed to ensure you are making
over half of people over the age of 45 have not the most of this valuable new tax allowance.
LIFETIME GIFTING
Making gifts during your lifetime can be one of the simplest and
most effective ways to reduce your inheritance tax liability.
Some lifetime gifts are covered by a range of effect of the annual exemption over several years
exemptions and others are known as either that makes it so interesting.
‘Potentially Exempt Transfers’ (PETs) or ‘Chargeable
Lifetime Transfers’ (CLTs). THE £250 ‘SMALL GIFTS’ EXEMPTION
While arguably having less impact than the £3,000
If possible, it is always good to make full use of annual exemption, the £250 small gift exemption
some of the basic IHT exempt gifting allowances can still make a significant dent in your inheritance
and we are going to consider three of the most tax liability if used effectively.
useful exemptions in the following sections: This exemption allows you to give £250 to as many
people as you like, and these gifts will be exempt
THE ANNUAL EXEMPTION from inheritance tax immediately.
Quite possibly the easiest inheritance tax exemption to
grasp is the annual exemption. The rate of the annual The only caveats are that this exemption cannot
exemption is currently set at £3,000, as it has been for be used in conjunction with any other exemption
many years. Put simply, this exemption allows you to and it does not apply as part of a larger gift. For
save £1,200 in inheritance tax each and every year. example, you can’t give someone a £250 small gift
in addition to the £3,000 annual exemption, nor can
The annual exemption allows each individual to the first £250 of a larger gift be treated as exempt
gift £3,000 to any other person or trust of their (the gift must be £250 or less to qualify).
choosing. Once the gift has been made, it is treated
as exempt, meaning that it falls outside of the In practice, these rules limit the potential impact of
inheritance tax estate immediately. the small gifts exemption, but this does not mean
that it should be overlooked.
Given that the annual exemption is a personal
allowance, those in a married couple will have two GIFTS OUT OF REGULAR INCOME
allowances to make use of, giving a grand total of Possibly the most valuable of all the inheritance tax
£6,000 per year. Expressed another way, that’s an exemptions, and often the least understood, is the
annual inheritance tax saving of £2,400! gifts out of regular income exemption.
As a final bonus, if you have not been making use Put simply, this allows gifts to be made to an
of the annual exemption in the past, you are able to individual or trust, with no upper limit, so long as
carry this forward for one year. the following conditions can be satisfied:
So, for example, if you did not make use of the annual n The gift must be made out of regular, natural
exemption last year, you have two allowances to make income (more on this in a moment).
use of this year. That’s a total of £6,000 for a single n There must be some element of regularity to the gifts.
person or £12,000 for a married couple to get you n The gift must not reduce your own standard of
started on your estate planning journey. You can only living to below that before the gifts commenced.
carry forward the allowance from one previous year
and must also fully use the current year’s allowance. While not quite so simple to claim or demonstrate,
the gifts out of regular income exemption does
While these amounts might seem small in the have the potential to generate a very significant
context of a £2m or £3m estate, it is the compound reduction in your inheritance tax liabilities.
S O, W HAT A RE TH E CATCHES?
Well, first of all, the gift must be made out
of your regular, natural income. In simple
terms, this means that the gift must POTENTIALLY EXEMPT TRANSFER (PET)
be able to be funded by your income
generated in that tax year. The gift cannot This is the term given to a gift that is potentially exempt
be made from capital. While different from inheritance tax.
USING TRUSTS
Trusts have a variety of functions in family estate planning and have been
used for hundreds of years as a method of passing wealth down through the
generations in a structured way, while also protecting the estate from many
other threats to family wealth.
Trusts can also play a major role in reducing an benefits of setting the Trust up in the first place and
inheritance tax liability. in almost all circumstances should be avoided.
Lifetime gifts can be channelled into trust to In legal terms, there are two main types of Trusts –
generate tax savings (after a 7-year period) while those with an enforceable interest and those with
also allowing the donor to retain some control a prospective interest. Trusts with an enforceable
over the assets in question. interest will have clearly defined beneficiaries and
include Trusts such as:
Trusts can also be used on death to receive assets to
reduce the IHT liability of future generations, while n Life Interest Trust – one person has the right to
also protecting the assets from common threats income for their life (life tenant), and others (the
such as the divorce or bankruptcy of a beneficiary. remaindermen) are entitled to the capital on the
death of the life tenant.
W H AT I S A TRUST? n Flexible (or Power of Appointment) Trust
In simple terms, a Trust is the donation of an asset – the Trust has two classes of beneficiaries
by an individual (the settlor) to other individuals (actual and potential) and the trustees have
(trustees) for the benefit of others (beneficiaries). the power to replace an actual beneficiary
The role of the trustee is crucial in administering with somebody from the list of potential
the Trust, and can be anybody over 18, of sound beneficiaries, for example if the actual
mind and not bankrupt. Both the settlor and a beneficiary has passed away.
beneficiary of the trust can act as a trustee. n Bare (or Absolute) Trust – a beneficiary has an
immediate and absolute entitlement to both
While there is nothing that prevents a settlor being capital and income which cannot be revoked.
named as a beneficiary, this will negate many of the
The main type of Prospective Interest Trust contemplation of marriage), but unless great
is a Discretionary Trust which is similar to a care is taken in creating these wills, all of the
Flexible Trust but differs in that it has no actual assets from the first marriage could be lost to
beneficiaries i.e. all of the beneficiaries are the offspring of this relationship.
potential beneficiaries only. This gives the trustees
full flexibility to decide who benefits from the
Trust, as well as controlling how much they will
receive and when payment is made.
EXAMPLE
The wide ranging flexibility available to trustees
David and Lisa are married and have two sons –
within a Discretionary Trust means that there are
they both created wills which named their spouse
very few circumstances in which the Trust assets
as the sole beneficiary of their estates, and assets to
could not be distributed to a beneficiary of some
pass to both children if they were to both die.
description, and almost all Trusts used in relation to
financial planning are set up as Discretionary Trusts. David passes away in his early forties and Lisa
receives all of his assets including his share of the
Various options exist when considering assets to be family home. After a few years, she meets Leon and
transferred into Trust and the options will depend they get married – Leon has two daughters and
on whether or not the asset produces an income. they agree to create new wills nominating the other
in the event one of them should pass away, and for
W H Y SHO UL D I US E A T RUST? their joint estates to be split equally between all four
The primary use of Trusts for bloodline planning is children on second death.
to retain as much of the estate as possible for direct
family members. They seek to protect assets from Ten years later, Lisa passes away and Leon receives
attack from scenarios such as: all of Lisa’s assets including the money that she had
inherited from David. Leon and the two boys have
DI VORC E A N D REMARRIAGE always had an uneasy relationship, and during the
( B LO O DL I N E PROT ECT ION) probate process they have a falling out – Leon then
Many people whose spouse has passed away will changes his will to leave everything to his daughters
meaning that Lisa and David’s children will not
get remarried but many of these second marriages
receive a penny from the assets that their parents
will end in divorce. If assets have been inherited
built up during their lives.
directly by the surviving spouse, then up to 50% of
this inheritance could be lost on divorce.
It is important to make sure that the ‘tax tail is not AIM shares can be illiquid or infrequently traded, but
wagging the investment dog’ – you should never invest they do tend to be the most liquid of the inheritance tax
in something inappropriate for your circumstances just efficient investments, as you will see in just a moment.
to obtain a tax incentive. There are 3 main types of
investments available to mainstream investors that offer ENTERPRISE INVESTMENT SCHEME (EIS)
some kind of IHT incentive: The Enterprise Investment Scheme was created by the
government to allow small and early-stage companies to
AIM SHARES raise growth capital from private investors.
These are simply company shares traded on the AIM
(Alternative Investment Market), which is the junior part Over the years, the type and size of company that can
of the London Stock Exchange. qualify for EIS have changed, but generally the firms will
be on the smaller end of the spectrum.
There are currently around 1,000 companies listed on the
AIM and these range in their size, scope and risk profile. EIS investments in qualifying companies can come
with a whole variety of tax benefits:
AIM shares are arguably the simplest of the business
property relief qualifying investments, as there are no n You get 30% income tax relief on up to £1 million of
other tax rules to worry about. You can purchase AIM investment each year. For example, if you invest £10,000,
shares, hold them for two years and then they should you should receive £3,000 in income tax back.
become exempt from inheritance tax. n Any gains made from the shares are exempt
from capital gains tax once they have been held for
However, AIM shares can be very volatile. At the time three years.
of writing, the biggest faller on the day is down by 20% n You can defer paying capital gains tax on other assets
and one company has risen by 80% in a day! Therefore, if those gains are invested into EIS investments within
a portfolio approach is often best when investing in AIM certain time limits.
shares to iron out some of this short-term volatility. It is n There is further income tax relief if the investments
thought between 20 and 50 stocks is sufficient to create a lose value.
good level of diversification. n Finally, and perhaps most importantly for you,
EIS investments will generally qualify for business
The main issue with AIM shares as an inheritance tax property relief after a two-year holding period and
planning strategy is that, at some point, they might thus be exempt from inheritance tax. Now, all of
stop being AIM shares. This can happen for a number these tax benefits might sound truly attractive,
of reasons: the company might grow quickly and and they are; however, they are offered for a
then decide to list on the main stock exchange, or the reason. EIS investments tend to be in early-stage,
company could go bust or simply stop meeting the unquoted companies.
qualifying criteria to be listed on the AIM.
This means that the shares are generally illiquid – they
If this happens, the inheritance tax benefits will be lost, can’t usually be sold on the open market. As such, you
so it is important that any AIM portfolio is kept under are hoping that the firm eventually lists on the stock
constant review to ensure that it remains inheritance tax market or is sold in the future for a profit.
efficient. For this reason, I suggest that all but the most
experienced investors (with lots of time on their hands) EIS investments are also risky, and some of these early-
are best placed to use one of the many professional AIM stage companies can, and do, fail completely, meaning
portfolio managers to look after their shares for them. that you have nothing left of your investment.
S E E D ENTERPRISE
I NV E STMEN T S CH EME (SEIS )
The Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (or SEIS) is for
even smaller companies. The rules and tax breaks are similar PASSING ON YOU R PENS IONS
to EIS investments, although you can obtain a 50% income
tax relief on the initial investment. SEIS investments are Following on from the pension
riskier still when compared with EIS and so even more care reforms in April 2015, money purchase
is required. (defined contribution) pensions now
present a very interesting estate
As with all other investments, EIS and SEIS can provide planning opportunity.
some attractive investment opportunities and have the
potential for spectacular returns, but care is needed. You Under the new regime, if an individual
should always do your homework and, if you are unsure, dies with liquid pension assets and they
speak to a qualified Independent Financial Adviser and are under 75, these benefits can be left to
get good-quality personal advice. any individual tax-free.
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