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From garage to unicorn – Employment law lessons for scaling tech teams
Catherine Bourne
Legal recognition of relationships has dramatically changed in the UK and across most western countries. With an urge for equality and to recognise same-sex relationships, the government first introduced civil partnerships for same-sex couples in 2005 and subsequently same sex-couples could legally marry from 2014.
An increasing number of estates are falling into the range of Inheritance Tax (IHT); if IHT were ever the concern only of the ‘rich’, it certainly isn’t now.
Both the Guardian and the Independent carried articles earlier this week centred on the statistic that the average rate of Inheritance tax (IHT) paid on the deaths of the very wealthy is 10% while the average rate on more 'modest' estates of between £2 million and £3 million was 20%.
The House of Lords has voted through the proposal which will introduce a new stealth death tax for the middle classes from April 2019. The fees payable to the Probate Registry will be dramatically increased from a flat rate of £155 for a solicitor application or £215 for a personal application for estates above £5,000 to a maximum of £6,000.
Saving Inheritance Tax (IHT) on death by making a gift and surviving by seven years is standard tax planning sanctioned by statute. However, if you make a gift but ‘reserve a benefit’ in the property given, it will still be brought into charge on death, regardless of how long you survive.
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