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Valuation of land & property for IHT
12/04/2011
On the death of a person it is necessary to establish the value of their estate for Inheritance Tax (IHT) purposes. Whilst this includes all types of assets which the deceased might have owned or had an interest in perhaps the most important and varied is the valuation of the deceased’s interest in land and buildings.
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Variation of Trusts
15/04/2011
In some Wills and trusts the provision made is not as tax efficient or beneficial as was perhaps intended at the time it was executed. This is often due to changes in the law or the circumstances of the beneficiaries since the preparation of the Will or trust.
Whilst Deeds of Variation are one way of remedying a Will which would benefit from a change it is only possible to undertake such a Deed if all the people affected by the variation are adult and of full capacity. Where minor, unborn or unascertained beneficiaries might be affected by the change it is not possible to proceed without an application to court under the Variation of Trusts Act 1958.
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Vulnerable Beneficiaries
09/04/2009
As part of the modernisation of the system of trust taxation a form of relief for both income tax and CGT was introduced in ss.23–45 of, and Sched.1 to, the Finance Act 2005 for discretionary trusts or trusts which can accumulate income which have a “vulnerable beneficiary”.
The purpose behind these rules is to enable a discretionary trust which would otherwise be taxed at 40% (and for dividends 32.5%) to be taxed according to the financial circumstances of the vulnerable person.
