Inheritance tax (IHT) definition

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Time limits for filing returns and paying tax—table

Time limits for filing returns and paying tax—table FORTHCOMING CHANGE related to Making Tax Digital: As part of the government’s wider Making Tax Digital (MTD) programme: • subject to limited exceptions and deferrals, sole traders and landlords will be required to submit quarterly digital updates to HMRC about their income and outgoings and returns in digital compatible formats with effect from April 2026, April 2027 or April 2028 for those with income in excess of £50,000, £30,000 or £20,000 respectively, and • the previous government consulted from 12 November 2020 to 5 March 2021 on the design for extending MTD to corporation tax on a voluntary basis from 2024 and a mandatory basis not before 2026, for more detail see News Analysis: Further provisions for draft Finance Bill 2021—Tax analysis—Business and enterprise The 2020 10 year roadmap for digitalising tax administration is explained in more detail in News Analysis: Making tax digital—getting on the virtual road. MTD for VAT has applied to all VAT-registered businesses, regardless of...

UK home ownership structures for overseas clients—table

UK home ownership structures for overseas clients—table STOP PRESS: Abolition of non-dom regime and introduction of residence-based IHT regime Finance Act 2025 (FA 2025) which received Royal Assent on 20 March 2025, implements legislation to abolish the remittance basis of taxation and replace it with a residence-based regime, commencing on 6 April 2025. FA 2025 also replaces domicile as the key factor in establishing liability to inheritance tax. Other changes include amendment of the rules determining excluded property status, the abolition of protected settlements status of offshore trusts, and changes to overseas workday relief. For information on these changes, see: Practice Notes: The abolition of the remittance basis of taxation from 2025–26, A new residence-based regime for IHT from 2025–26. See also: Finance Bill Tracking Service: Key dates (Finance Bill 2025) and Finance Act 2025. This table compares the main taxes applicable in home ownership structures for UK residential property where the property is to be used as a UK home. It should be...

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Excluded property from 6 April 2017—flowcharts

Excluded property from 6 April 2017—flowcharts These flowcharts are designed to help determine if an asset is excluded property for the purposes of UK inheritance tax (IHT) on or after 6 April 2017. The flowcharts consider whether an asset is excluded property or not, depending on the situs of the property and the domicile of the beneficial owner or settlor as appropriate. However, the detailed provisions relating to excluded property should be referred to and practitioners should also consider whether a double tax treaty may apply to override the excluded property regime depending on the particular circumstances of a matter. See Practice Note: Double taxation relief—summary. Conversely, unilateral relief from IHT may apply where a tax of a similar nature has already been levied in respect of the same asset by a foreign tax authority. For further information, see Practice Notes: Excluded property trusts—key events affecting IHT status and Situs of assets for succession and IHT. Situs of property The situs of an asset is important for determining the...

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Funding an employee benefit trust

Funding an employee benefit trust This Practice Note covers the following issues in relation to the funding of an employee benefit trust (EBT): • practical aspects of funding an EBT • financial assistance—the background • financial assistance—the current position • relevance of financial assistance to EBTs • financial assistance—exemptions • the employees’ shares scheme exemption • consequences of non-compliance of the financial assistance provisions • tax implications for close companies which fund EBTs, and • corporation tax relief in respect of EBT funding Practical aspects of funding an EBT When an EBT is first set up, it needs to be provided with initial financing, as a trust cannot exist without initial trust assets. It is common for a nominal amount, for example £100, to be settled on the trustee in order to establish the EBT (for further details, see Practice Note: Setting up an EBT). However, after the EBT has established, other funding can be provided. This may be by way of: • voluntary contribution • loan...

Deemed domicile for tax from 6 April 2017 to 5 April 2025

Deemed domicile for tax from 6 April 2017 to 5 April 2025 STOP PRESS: Abolition of non-dom regime and introduction of residence-based IHT regime Finance Act 2025 (FA 2025) which received Royal Assent on 20 March 2025, implements legislation to abolish the remittance basis of taxation and replace it with a residence-based regime, commencing on 6 April 2025. FA 2025 also replaces domicile as the key factor in establishing liability to inheritance tax. Other changes include amendment of the rules determining excluded property status, the abolition of protected settlements status of offshore trusts, and changes to overseas workday relief. For information on these changes, see Practice Notes: The abolition of the remittance basis of taxation from 2025–26 and A new residence-based regime for IHT from 2025–26. See also: Finance Bill Tracking Service: Key dates (Finance Bill 2025) and Finance Act 2025. At Summer Budget 2015, the government announced wide-ranging reforms to the deemed domicile rules and also to the excluded property rules...

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Explanatory note for a client's Will—to spouse on flexible life interest trust with remainder on discretionary trust

Explanatory note for a client's Will—to spouse on flexible life interest trust with remainder on discretionary trust STOP PRESS: Abolition of non-dom regime and introduction of residence-based IHT regime. Finance Act 2025 (FA 2025) which received Royal Assent on 20 March 2025, implements legislation to abolish the remittance basis of taxation and replace it with a residence-based regime, commencing on 6 April 2025. FA 2025 also replaces domicile as the key factor in establishing liability to inheritance tax. Other changes include amendment of the rules determining excluded property status, the abolition of protected settlements status of offshore trusts, and changes to overseas workday relief. For information on these changes, see Practice Notes: The abolition of the remittance basis of taxation from 2025–26 and A new residence-based regime for IHT from 2025–26. See also: Finance Bill Tracking Service: Key dates (Finance Bill 2025) and Finance Act 2025. [Your] Will—[name of testator]—explanatory note This explanatory note explains the main provisions of your Will. Please read this explanatory note and your Will carefully....

Letter recommending insurance—demands and needs—law firms

Letter recommending insurance—demands and needs—law firms   We have reached a stage in your matter where we believe it would be in your best interests to buy [insert type of insurance]. We have suggested you buy the insurance from [state name of insurance provider to whom you have introduced the client for insurance or who has given you delegated authority to issue a policy]. This is something we have already discussed and you have agreed that we will [state what you will do to arrange the insurance, eg complete and submit a proposal form on your behalf or issue the policy under delegated authority]. You have consented to us disclosing relevant personal data and information to [state name of insurance provider] for this purpose. Fees, charges and commission Insurance premium The [insert type of insurance] insurance policy costs £[insert amount or where it is not possible to give a specific amount, the basis for the calculation of the premium]. This is called the 'insurance premium'. [Explain what you...

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In 2006, the deceased’s husband established a nil rate band trust (NRB) in his Will funded with a loan note from his wife in the amount of £285k. The only documentation for this arrangement was a loan note and the trust was not registered with the Trust Registration Service (TRS). The deceased's children wish to have the trustees appoint this to their own children. Do charges under the relevant property regime apply to the trust? Should the trustees retrospectively register the NRB trust with the TRS and report to HMRC?

In 2006, the deceased’s husband established a nil rate band trust (NRB) in his Will funded with a loan note from his wife in the amount of £285k. The only documentation for this arrangement was a loan note and the trust was not registered with the Trust Registration Service (TRS). The deceased's children wish to have the trustees appoint this to their own children. Do charges under the relevant property regime apply to the trust? Should the trustees retrospectively register the NRB trust with the TRS and report to HMRC? Relevant property trust charges In the case of the ten-year charge, the available nil rate band (NRB) is used as part of a formula to calculate the effective rate (ER), which in turn determines the actual rate of inheritance tax (IHT) to be applied to the particular trust. The actual rate is 30% of the ER. As the maximum ER is 20%, the maximum actual rate is 6%. See Practice Note: Relevant property trusts—the principal (ten-year) charge before 18 November...

What test applies for determining whether someone is 'incapable of administering their property or managing their affairs' for the purposes of establishing whether a beneficiary suffering from a mental disorder would qualify as disabled for tax purposes?

What test applies for determining whether someone is 'incapable of administering their property or managing their affairs' for the purposes of establishing whether a beneficiary suffering from a mental disorder would qualify as disabled for tax purposes? This answer is limited to the definition of a disabled beneficiary for inheritance tax (IHT) and does not consider the definition or implications for taxation in relation to income tax or capital gains tax. It is also assumed that the question relates to the settlement into trust of funds for the disabled person. Following the changes brought about by the Finance Act 2006, most settlements created by a settlor during their lifetime are relevant property trusts for the purposes of IHT and certain trusts created by Will also fall into the relevant property regime. Therefore, for the most part, lifetime gifts into settlements are immediately chargeable transfers on which the settlor will be charged to IHT at the lifetime rate of 20% where the amount settled exceeds the settlor's...

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FTT holds foreign property added to excluded property settlement when settlor was deemed domiciled is not relevant property (Accuro Trust (Switzerland) SA v HMRC)

Tax analysis: In Accuro Trust (Switzerland) SA v HMRC, the First-tier Tax Tribunal (FTT) held that foreign property added to an excluded property trust in March 2006 when the settlor had become deemed domiciled in the UK was excluded property and that inheritance tax (IHT) paid in the mistaken belief that it was not, should be repaid. The natural meaning of the words meant that the additions were not relevant property and that HMRC’s view was not ‘generally received or adopted in practice’.

Private Client weekly highlights—17 April 2025

This week’s edition of Private Client highlights includes: (1) Changizi v Changizi, where a non-exempt beneficiary’s share of estate was liable for IHT under Re Ratcliffe; (2) Argyll and Bute Council v RF (by his litigation friend, the Official Solicitor), in which the Court of Protection refuses an application for recognition and enforcement of a Scottish Guardianship order; (3) Abbasi v Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Haastrup v King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, in which the Supreme Court held that anonymity for clinicians in withdrawal of treatment cases involving children should normally be of limited duration; (4) Companies House launches a new voluntary identity verification service; (5) Armstrong v Bhattacharya, which highlights the importance of clear, contemporaneous documentary evidence and a consistent case in circumstances where a person wishes to demonstrate that ownership of a property differs to that which is recorded at HM Land Registry; (6) Tedford v Clarke, in which the court held that although a Will was badly drafted, it was not meaningless and...