Murray Beith Murray LLP is a leading Scottish private client law firm.
For 175 years we have specialised in meeting the legal, financial and administrative needs of individuals and families, family trusts, charities and private companies.
If you have recently inherited shares that have now collapsed in value due to the coronavirus pandemic, you could be entitled to a substantial inheritance tax (IHT) repayment.
While Will writing has been around for centuries, the digital age has created new considerations as to the assets that should be dealt with by your Will. When planning for your future, it is as important to consider your digital assets as well as any physical property or money.
With the Inheritance Tax (IHT) nil rate band having remained at £325,000 since 2009, more people than ever are having IHT charged on their estates on their death. Over £5.37 billion of IHT was paid to HMRC in the last tax year. This is almost double the amount that was collected ten years ago. With careful planning, it may be possible to reduce your future potential IHT liability significantly. Here are our five top tips for reducing your liability:
The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) published its second report earlier this month which provides recommendations to the Treasury on the simplification of Inheritance Tax (IHT). Although the remit of the report was to simplify existing policy, rather than to propose different policy, the recommendations would lead to a significant change in existing tax planning strategies. The report highlights that the inconsistencies and complexity of the existing rules lead to a difference in tax paid between individuals who seek specialist advice and the large number of people who do not seek advice. The OTS anticipates that this difference would be narrowed if the recommendations were implemented.
