There is a clash between planning for inheritance tax, and planning for capital gains tax. The best way to mitigate against inheritance tax is often to make lifetime transfers; while the best approach to reduce capital gains tax is often to retain them until death.

Capital gains tax was introduced in 1965. Taper relief and indexation relief was introduced in the years that followed in order to exempt gains that arose purely through the effects of inflation and to reward long-term investment. In 2008 both taper relief and indexation relief was abolished, to bring us to the current day where there is no protection against the effects of inflation, no reward for long-term investment and a penalty for investing in residential property.

We can advise you on the approaches to take to mitigate the overall tax burden, be it inheritance tax or capital gains tax. There are actually 3 main aspects in this respect:

• Business Property Relief on business assets
• Transfers to spouses
• The family home

For more information please contact us by calling one of the numbers at the top of this page, or by email: estateplanning@curzongreen.co.uk