Surely there is no Inheritance Tax applicable if the farm passes ownership - only if it passes as inheritance? So the new tax laws wouldn’t have made any difference anyway?
And if they die within 7 years or whatever the cut off for gifts is they still owe the current rate, which will be the new value.
On the face of it this is idiotic
True. However it is classed as an inheritance and not ownership transfer if the previous owner dies within seven years. There’s a sliding scale, if I remember correctly so you pay less inheritance tax if, say, your parents die after six years compared to one year after transfer. But farmers have been historically exempt from this rule so transferring ownership before the rule changes could be quite a significant tax saving.
I was aware of the 7 year rule, but I believe the new tax rate would apply at the time of the death, rather than retrospectively applying the rate from the time of the gift. I could be wrong though.
Shh no I’m probably wrong. Haven’t read enough about it.
And nothing more will be done about it, he should have the tax applied on the transfer now.
But they’re not dead
