Lifetime Tax planning – helping yourself

Make sure you are using your allowances and reduce your Inheritance Tax

Many of us do not utilise the gifts that we can make during our lifetime free of tax such as:

  • £250 to as many people as you like in one tax year;
  • £3,000 lump sum every year to anyone;
  • £5,000 to each of your children as a wedding gift;
  • Gifts to charities are free of inheritance tax;
  • Transfers between spouses are exempt.

Consider also:

  • Joint Tenancies: where property or assets which are held jointly would automatically pass to the other spouse/partner
  • Tenancies in common: property is identified in shares and can be left to anyone in the Will instead of passing automatically to the surviving joint tenant
  • Insurance policies: when buying policies, consider putting these policies in trust from the outset for your beneficiaries. This will stop them forming part of your Estate and thus will not utilise your Nil Rate Band.

Tax planning - with our help

With effective advice, you can reduce the amount of tax that you pay.

We look at your circumstances and advise upon the course of action to minimise tax liabilities. This could be by way of:-

  • Drafting a Will;
  • The setting up of a Discretionary Trust;
  • Putting a Lifetime Trust into your Will; and
  • The making of gifts during your lifetime which could potentially be exempt