Capital gains tax tips on family gifted property?

Capital gains tax tips on family gifted property?

16:29 PM, 10th May 2021, About 3 years ago 23

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My wife has a part-time job earning 12,000. Her mother signed over her house in 2002 giving half to my wife’s sister and half to my wife.

My wife’s mother died in February, and they decided to sell the house. My wife’s mother was living there all the time apart from the last six months she moved into my wife’s sisters house, and she died at that house. My wife’s sister was their mothers registered carer and did not have a job.

The property is valued at £1.8 million.

For the last six months we were rewiring and insulating all external walls with 70 mm insulation to bring the property up to a lettable state because it has had no building work or anything done to it for 50 years.

Has anyone got any tips on things we can do to reduce the capital gains we would have to pay?

Thank you

Thomas


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Olls63

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14:39 PM, 11th May 2021, About 3 years ago

If it was gifted to your wife and sister in law, it belongs to them. However for IHT purposes it will have to be shown on the IHT400 and IHT403 forms, which you have to send to HMRC. This is also a double whammy, as while the value at death will be used for IHT purposes, for your wife's CGT purposes the cost will be the value at the date of the gift.

Hargreaves Consultants

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14:47 PM, 11th May 2021, About 3 years ago

You can reduce your inheritance tax bill considerably if you use an accountant who is well versed in the subject. I assume you are intending to sell the property? The previous comment that HMRC are the most helpful is correct. HMRC are not the bad guys as most people believe. If you instruct a lawyer make sure they are experts in tax law if not do not use them. According to a so called tax expert my late mother's estate had a liability of £256K how ever when I provided the information to an accountant friend who is an expert in inheritance tax and applicable law the amount was reduced to £21K. Recieve the right advice or pay the price.

Olls63

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14:52 PM, 11th May 2021, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Hargreaves Consultants at 11/05/2021 - 14:47
Some people will forget about the transferrable nil rate bands.

Beaver

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17:00 PM, 11th May 2021, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Hargreaves Consultants at 11/05/2021 - 14:47
I agree with this in the sense that a lot of the information you need will be on gov.uk. But I also wouldn't submit my wife or sister's tax return this year until I'd checked the situation with the estate. And I would also do my own checks on how the property is registered currently. You can check the land registry here:

https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry

It doesn't cost much.

Mark Crooks

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7:32 AM, 15th May 2021, About 3 years ago

With this amount of money at stake (£1.8m) I would consider sourcing two or three tax experts and asking them to calculate the IHT/CGT.

The most competent should become apparent.

All their fees combined should be easily overshadowed by the saving you will make compared to trying to sort this out yourself.

Badger

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10:38 AM, 17th May 2021, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Mark Crooks at 15/05/2021 - 07:32
I agree with all the advice about consulting competent tax experts but the challenge is finding them.

A few years back I handled the estate of my late mother-in-law on behalf of her three daughters and despite it being a very straightforward matter with no IHT to pay I was taken aback at just how much work was involved.

I wouldn't do it again if I had the choice and I shudder to think what the burden on the executor (me!) would have been had the situation been more complex.

aydin

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9:23 AM, 18th May 2021, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Hargreaves Consultants at 11/05/2021 - 12:13
HI can you recommend a good accountant and for that matter a good lawyer who are not out for what they can get but are content for fair remuneration for sound advice

Beaver

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10:49 AM, 18th May 2021, About 3 years ago

Thoughts for you. If someone dies you must register the estate:

https://www.gov.uk/self-assessment-tax-returns/returns-for-someone-who-has-died

And as this link says.

"You must register by 5 October after the tax year you’re sending a return for. For example, if you’re sending a return for the 2020 to 2021 tax year (6 April 2020 to 5 April 2021) then you must register by 5 October 2021."

And as the link also says having registered the estate you must then either submit the return by paper before 31st October, or do it electronically before 31st January. So you've got almost 6 months if you do it yourself now and submit by paper, and over 8 months if you do it electronically.

PS: A lawyer's primary raison d'etre is "non mea culpa" and for this reason they seldom give advice 😉

Hargreaves Consultants

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11:59 AM, 18th May 2021, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by aydin at 18/05/2021 - 09:23
Yes I know a good accountant who happens to be an expert in dealing with all matters relating to Inheritance and CGT tax savings. Can you provide more information. I don't know if you can message me privately?

Thomas Ryan

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12:17 PM, 18th May 2021, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Beaver at 18/05/2021 - 10:49
Thank you for advice

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