A blog about tax planning strategies and ideas.
One unusual feature of the UK population is our passion for property. Some parts of Europe don’t have the same obsession, but it is understandable when the political narrative for many years was the ‘Right to Buy’. Talking about ‘Rights’ is powerful because it makes people feel as though they are owed something by society. […]
Is Now the Time to Sell Your Property? Read More »
In 2021 the then little known 30-year old Austrian, Merlene Engelhorn, found out that she was going to inherit from her grandmother. When I inherited from my grandmother several years ago, I used the money to buy my family, lifetime membership to the National Trust. This was a double win because she was a big
The Curious Case of the Austrian Heiress Read More »
Did you know that it is possible to leave money in your will to charity and in doing so leave more money in your estate for your family? This obviously seems too good to be true and the obvious question is ‘if the charity is getting more and my children are getting more, who is getting less?’. The
Little Known Tax Secret Read More »
If the take-up rates of wills are worrying then the same rates for Lasting Powers of Attorney are shocking. In some ways a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is even more important than a Will.
Take Control in Advance Read More »
Death is one of those subjects that uniquely we will all experience, but we rarely talk about. Try as hard as they might, even the world’s Billionaires will one day die. It is therefore extraordinary that the simple act of making a will is still only practiced by less than 40% of the population.
Make Your Wishes Known Read More »
1976 was a great year; The Boys Are Back in Town was released, I was born, and Business Relief was introduced. I have no idea what the idea was behind the first two but the idea behind Business Relief was to stop family businesses being sold or broken up to pay inheritance tax (IHT) on the owner’s death.
Tips for Business Owners – Cash in my Business Read More »
The vast majority of UK businesses by number and by employees are small to medium size enterprises (sub-250 employees). Many of these are family owned or at least majority owned by a founder. Small businesses have significant advantages over large businesses, the biggest risk though, remains their size. Very often there is a key individual (sometimes the founder) whose loss would lead to the business being wound-up immediately.
Tips for Business Owners – Protect your Business Read More »
On the 6th April 2024 the Lifetime Allowance regime for pensions ended and was replaced by three new allowances – the lump sum allowance, the lump sum and death benefit allowance, and the overseas transfer allowance. This post today is going to focus on the lump sum allowance as some of you will need to
Urgent action – have you drawn a pension? Read More »
When Jeremy Hunt stood up in Parliament on 6th March 2024 to deliver his Budget he made some changes to Child Benefit, and specifically the High-Income Child Benefit Charge. Campaigners had long argued for change given the unfairness as to how this was applied, and Hunt announced plans to reform the Charge even further. However, due
The most flexible form of inheritancce tax planning, is a one-off time bound opportunity that you can’t control but can prepare for.
The best kept tax secret Read More »
