Ipswich Financial Adviser

Archive for the ‘Inheritance tax’ Category

Inheritance tax issues can be a worry to people. There are some simple financial planning techniques that can be used to help eliminate or reduce the possibility of this tax being charged on death.

Once of the simplest ways to help the situation is to write a will. With a well written will, it not only ensures you wishes are carried out on your death but will help with the reduction or elimination of a possible inheritance tax bill.

If you would like help or advice in writing a will we have excellent contacts with Solicitors and will writers that would be able to write an inheritance tax friendly will for you.

Please contact  Thompson Financial Consulting and we will help you make the most of your money

One way to help reduce or eliminate Inheritance Tax is to make gifts. There are certain maximum limits to the value of gifts you can make to family members or other individuals, which restricts the amount you can give away and still get full relief against an inheritance tax liability.

However, you can make unlimited gifts to certain institutions and get full tax relief against Inheritance Tax. These institutions are

• Charities,
• National trust,
• National museums,
• Main political parties,
• Most registered housing associations.

This is an additional way to reduce assets to help plan against an inheritance tax bill. This option is often forgotten and it could be that it is an ideal way for a potential inheritance tax bill to be managed.

If you require any help or advice about Inheritance Tax then please feel free to contact Thompson Financial Consulting and we will be happy to help.

A simple form of tax planning is to ensure you have made a will.

Do make sure you get a professional to write the will for you as by “doing it yourself” you may actual cause more tax and issues within your estate once you pass away.

The will ensures your assets are passed to your beneficiaries and that you do not die intestate (without a will). If this happens then there are prescribed rules as to how your estate is divided up and this could cause unnecessary inheritance tax to be paid and the money to go to people you had no intention of receiving any money.

If you need a referral to a good will writer then please feel free to contact Thompson Financial Consulting and we will be happy to get you the advice that you need.

Inheritance tax is levied on your estate when you die. The first £325,000 (£650,000 for couples) is tax-free but if the value of your assets is more than that, tax will be levied at 40 per cent.

This may sound a large sum of money, but it includes all your assets, including property, cars, valuables, bank accounts and investments to name a few. With the increase in property values over time, more people get caught over the inheritance tax limits and end up paying 40% on the excess.

The best thing to do is to work out if your estate is worth more than the set limits. If your estate is worth more, then you need to get professional independent financial advice to find out ways of reducing the inheritance tax liability. On many occasions there are simple ways to do this and that can save the beneficiaries of your estate many thousands of pounds in unnecessary tax.

It is also best to look at inheritance tax planning as early as possible, because if you leave it to you are much older, you do not have as many opportunities to reduce this tax liability. My advice is to get advice early and start planning so that you can mitigate some or all of the potential tax overtime, making it easier for you to achieve you financial goals.

Please feel free to contact Thompson Financial Consulting and we will be happy to help with your inheritance tax advice needs.

If you feel you could potentially have an issue about paying Inheritance Tax then it is always best to seek professional help, as there are many ways to eradicate or reduce this liability.

One way is to gift money out of income to your beneficiaries while you are alive. This type of gift, subject to certain rules,  does not attract inheritance tax, so you reduce the level of your estate.

There are certain rules that the HRMC attach to this,  one of the most important, is that the regular gift out of income should not impact your normal standard of living. In others words the gift does not affect the way your run your live.

There are other issues to consider, but if you do receive more income than required and you are at a stage in your life that you don’t need all that income, then planning around the disposal of some of this income can help towards inheritance tax planning.

If you require any help or advice on inheritance tax planning then please feel free to contact Thompson Financial Consulting and we will be happy to help.

Inheritance tax is no longer an issue. True? Well – not really.

It’s true the rules changed for the better, in October 2007. But it’s also true that to benefit from these rules, it’s still vitally important to set up your will and your estate in the right way.

And if your estate is worth more than £325,000 (or £650,000 for a married couple/ civil partnership) you – or, more precisely, your heirs – will still have to pay inheritance tax.

So what do you do, there are lots of financial planning solutions to eliminate or reduce your inheritance tax liability, but one simple way is to gift money up to the allowable threshold which is £3000 per individual that gifts money. If you haven’t used this allowance in the previous tax year you can gift up to £6000. For a married couple that is £12,000. If you don’t need the money, it is an ideal way to reduce the size of your estate and pass the money to beneficiaries without attracting inheritance tax.

If you would like more advice with regards to inheritance tax planning then feel free to contact Thompson Financial Consulting, where we will be happy to help.