Inheritance Tax (IHT) is a tax on the value of the assets that you own – your estate - when you die.

If you have a life interest or right to income in certain types of trusts, IHT can sometimes apply to these trusts’ assets as well. It can also be charged on any gifts to a trust that you’ve made in your lifetime.

IHT is taken from your estate before any assets are distributed between your successors. In some cases, certain assets might have to be sold to pay the tax.

There are a number of reliefs and allowances that reduce the amount of IHT that your estate must pay. For example, assets that you leave to a spouse or civil partner carry an exemption from IHT.

We can help you make the most of these reliefs and allowances and ensure that your successors can benefit from as much of your estate as possible – find out more on our inheritance tax page.

Most countries tax you differently depending on whether you’re considered ‘tax resident’ or not.

Tax residence is a slightly different concept to actual residence. This means that you might legally be a tax resident somewhere even if you don’t consider it your home.

Each country has different laws to decide if you’re tax resident based on:

• How long you’re in the country
• Where your family live
• Where you work
• If you own a home in the country
• How much money and assets you own in the country.

The different tax laws in different countries can sometimes conflict, which could mean that you’re tax resident in multiple countries or that you pay tax on the same income twice.

Read more about how we can help you plan your tax residence correctly.

Your domicile is your official permanent home and can be different to your tax residence. It can have an impact on the income tax, capital gains tax, and inheritance tax that you pay.

You are automatically given your parents’ domicile when you are born. This is known as your domicile of origin.

You keep domicile of origin until you get a new one. Even if you move abroad, your domicile probably won’t change unless you specifically change it.

You need to meet certain criteria if you want to change your domicile. As a minimum you’ll have to:

• Move to another country
• Prove that you plan to live there permanently.

Someone is a non-domiciled or ‘non-dom’ UK resident if they have changed their domicile but still live in the UK. This can come with tax benefits but it’s complicated to successfully take advantage of them – contact us online to find out how we can help with non-dom taxes.

If HMRC suspects that you’ve underpaid tax or under-reported income, they can look into your finances with a Code of Practice (COP) 8 or 9 investigation.

They’ll ask you to provide financial information so they can confirm how much you’ve earned and how much tax you should pay.

We can help whether you’re facing an upcoming investigation, you’re being investigated already, or you simply want to avoid it happening in the future.

We assist with everything from assessing tax risk and preparing voluntary disclosures, to negotiating penalties with HMRC and representing clients during litigation.

Find out more about our expertise on our tax investigations page.

Wealth structuring combines varied legal and financial advice to help you manage, protect, and grow your wealth. Our wealth structuring advice includes:

• Making and structuring investments
• Setting up and managing trusts and family investment companies
• Protecting assets
• Efficient UK and international tax planning
• Estate planning
• Business law.

Wealth structuring can also involve an array of other legal issues, such as Wills, family, immigration, or property law. As part of one of the UK’s largest private client teams, we have the expertise on hand to support you through whatever situations arise.

Read more on our wealth structuring page