Inheritance tax
Your 10 point inheritance tax checklist

• Work out the total value of your assets and who owns what.
  Remember that each of you can leave assets in your estate worth up to £300,000 before IHT starts to bite.
• Split your assets between you to take maximum advantage of the IHT nil-rate band of £300,000.
• Structure your wills correctly so that the spouse who dies first can transfer wealth out of your combined estate.
• Do not simply leave it all to the surviving spouse, as this will result in a bigger IHT bill when the second spouse dies.
• One commonly used option is that the first spouse to die leaves to the children an amount equal to the nil-rate band.
• Make full use of the gifts you can make free of IHT. These include one or more gifts up to an annual value of £3,000, plus as many gifts of £250 as you like to different individuals.
• You can also make gifts of any amount with no IHT to pay, provided that you survive for seven years after making the gift.
• Less well known is the option to make gifts from income provided that they are regular and do not adversely affect your standard of living.
• Consider building a portfolio of assets that enjoy favourable treatment for IHT purposes, such as farmland, family-owned businesses and some shares listed on the Alternative Investment Market.
  
  If you require any further information about the services that we provide or would like to review your financial planning position, please email or contact us.
  
  Levels and bases of, and reliefs from, taxation are subject to change.
  Article date: 06.07