Application to HMRC saves family estate millions in IHT savings

Many assume that large estates will always attract Inheritance (IHT) Tax, particularly as the tax-free nil rate allowance has been fixed at a modest £325,000 for many years now. However, depending on the nature of the assets held within an estate, and who they are passing to, there can be generous additional reliefs to claim, which can often ensure that valuable estate assets pass free of tax.

In this estate, the deceased held shares in a family owned business as well as extensive farmland. Helen Stewart and her team were able to conduct a detailed review the family portfolio at an early opportunity and took steps to prepare detailed accounts for each specific asset as part of the wider estate administration progress. This allowed an application to be made to HMRC to consider the unique circumstances of the estate and award maximum tax reliefs on an asset-by-asset basis.

Without such an application, the estate would have been liable to IHT on the whole value of the combined assets, which would have represented a huge loss to the estate and its beneficiaries.