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Q and A Forum

Q. If my husband and I give our house to my children but continue to live in it, will inheritance tax be chargeable on the property when we die?

A. The inheritance tax residence nil rate band (RNRB), which is currently being phased, is designed to help people in your position to pass on the family home to children or grand- children, tax-free after their death.

Broadly, where someone dies on or after 6 April 2017 and their estate is above the basic inheritance tax threshold (currently £325,000), the estate may be entitled to an additional threshold before any inheritance tax becomes due. The extra amount for 2019/20 is up to £150,000 and this will increase to £175,000 in 2020/21.

The additional threshold can be added to the basic inheritance tax threshold of £325,000 if the person and their estate meet the qualifying conditions. This means that from 2020/21, it should be possible for a married couple or civil partners, to pass on a family home worth up to £1 million to their direct descendants.

The amount of the additional threshold due for an estate will be the lower of:

– the value of the home, or share that direct descendants inherit
– the maximum additional threshold available for the estate when the person died

Always seek professional advice before entering into any arrangement where the main purpose, or one of the main purposes, is to obtain a tax advantage.
8/8/2019


New VAT rules for the Construction Sector

Under new rules due to come in on 1 October 2019 builders, sub-contractors and other trades associated with the construction industry will have start using a new method of accounting for VAT.

Under the new rules, supplies of standard or reduced-rated building services between VAT-registered businesses in the supply chain will not be invoiced in the normal way. Under the reverse charge, a main contractor would account for the VAT on the services of any sub-contractor and the supplier does not invoice for VAT. The customer (main contractor) would then account for VAT on the net value of the supplier’s invoice and at the same time deduct that VAT from the payment to the sub-contractor.

This is intended to ensure that VAT is correctly accounted for on supplies by sub-contractors.

The new reverse charge will apply to a wide range of services in the building trade, primarily those activities covered by the construction industry (CIS) payment rules. Note that normal VAT invoices will continue to be issued to domestic customers.

Please contact us if you are likely to be affected by these changes and we can work with you to ensure you are ready for the new system.

8/8/2019.


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