News and Developments

Preparing a written Partnership Agreement which defines the parties, the partnership intention and the assets to be used, can be so helpful to record the agreement and should be an essential part of any rural business planning.

Capital Gains Tax is essentially a lifetime tax payable on the increase in value of chargeable assets when they are realised. Not necessarily sold (see below) under the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 (“TCGA” of just “CGT 1992”).

Since the introduction of the Finance Act 2006 as an alternative or in addition to the (a) Legal Trust Deed or (b) a Self-Invested Pension Scheme, the Family Investment Company has become a popular alternative.

Since 17th August 2015 the EU Succession Regulations affect all individuals who have assets in the EU.

This article is drafted to trace the historical background and deal with some of the issues raised. It is not exhaustive and is no replacement for bespoke legal advice.

Currently every individual has an Inheritance Tax (IHT) allowance of £325,000. In April 2017 an additional Residential Nil Rate Band (RNRB) came into effect to give an additional £175,000 per person by the 2020/21 tax year.

When buying any property other than as a first time buyer Stamp Duty will almost certainly apply.

It was the fight between whether the Church or the Crown got most of our money on death which led to the Statute of Uses in 1535. For hundreds of years death operated as the Revenue’s last chance to tax. For decades this operated through a “death duty” which applied to assets including the house owned before death. Sometimes forcing a sale of the big house (as in “To The Manor Born”) to pay death duties but the tax also affected the most modest homes making the gift to the next generation proportionally as hard.