HMRC’s so called ‘snooper computer’ is leading to an increase in bereaved families being investigated for underpaying inheritance tax.
Recent research has found that over 4,000 families have been investigated by HM Revenue & Customs. According to some sources, the tax man handed out a £326million bill for tax payment errors in 2021-2022. Which is an increase of 28% on the previous tax year.
According to Georgie Frost from the ‘This is Money’ podcast, ‘other assets’ seem to be the main things that are catching people out. Not the larger assets like property, but the smaller ones like jewellery or a painting. Things that we may not know the full value of, or perhaps items that are mistakenly undervalued.
Arken’s Assets & Liabilities Report Can Help
As part of the Will pack Arken can produce an Assets & Liabilities report that can record information about all the assets a client has. This can be shared with the client to review, and in some cases it might be worth advising that some items are valued by a professional.
The report should help uncover those items and will support clients in understanding if an asset might push them over the inheritance tax threshold. It can help inform a gifting strategy too.
The assets & liabilities report is not mandatory, but in some cases can be a helpful tool.
A Will pack from Arken includes:
- The Will itself
- A coversheet
- Bespoke commentary
- Signing instructions
- An assets & liabilities report
- The Will questionnaire
- An overview of the client interview
- The client profile
For more information, please feel free to contact us.