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The fact that nearly seven million parents have given children an early inheritance shows that lifetime estate planning is not something which is restricted to the high-net worth and ultra-high net worth community.Assisting children to get onto the property ladder and supporting grandchildren through education and university are two of the most common reasons for passing wealth down through the generations.Independent financial and legal advice should be sought before carrying out any significant estate planning, however this research shows that it is a financial tool that is harnessed by millions and could surely be used by more than that.

Some people are using the extension of the civil partnership rules to heterosexual couples as an opportunity to highlight the ways in which the rules on inheritance tax (“IHT”) favour married couples (or those in civil partnerships).Whilst it seems unlikely at this stage that the Government will submit to calls to allow siblings similar access to these IHT exemptions, it does raise the interesting ethical question about why avoiding IHT continues to be so closely linked to marriage or civil partnerships. The argument that it is to preserve family wealth does not hold, because IHT is taxed at 40% when the surviving spouse does eventually pass wealth down to children. Indeed, a married couple receives the exemption whether or not they have children, whereas a different individual may wish to pass assets to a loved niece or nephew via their own sibling. In the former scenario IHT is only taxed once (on the death of the surviving spouse), whereas in the second scenario HMRC takes a 40% cut twice.Given that the exemption simply requires that individuals be married or in a civil partnership, it begs the question of what the justification is for the continued generosity towards couples in the 21st century.

The Financial Times reports this morning that HMRC are enquiring into the tax affairs of Airbnb. Of particular interest to HMRC may be the low profits as against high revenues, something which was criticised last year by Bruno Le Maire, the French Finance Minister.The investigation serves as a timely reminder to those that use the service to rent their rooms or entire homes in the UK, to ensure they are declaring the income generated and paying the appropriate tax.Rent-a-room relief is set at £7,500 per year so those earning under this amount (or half if the income is shared with another person) on Airbnb do not need to file a return. Landlords who do not live in the home they rent out do not qualify for the relief.For those that are unable to claim the relief, or that earn over the threshold, a tax return must be filed.  Some may wish to consider whether their tax liability is lower by claiming the relief, or by being able to deduct expenses in the usual manner, something which is not available under the rent-a-room scheme. As the popularity of Airbnb rises, HMRC may continue to take an interest in the tax revenue taken and therefore ensuring compliance with the rules will only become increasingly important for users of the service.

The Association of Taxation Technicians have warned individuals of the approaching time limit to register for self-assessment for the first time, specifically reminding people that profits and gains made on cryptoassets will need to be disclosed and tax may be due.It is also worth considering whether losses could be reported to mitigate tax paid on other income or gains.Individuals will need to consider (and HMRC will presumably be very interested to know) whether they are trading or investing in cryptoassets, the former being subject to income tax rather than capital gains tax and therefore taxed at a much higher rate.Given the increase in value of cryptoassets and their popularity in recent years, it will be interesting to see how much revenue HMRC make from cryptoasset taxation and what active steps they may take to ensure compliance if they believe there is a under-reporting of liabilities.

Dominic Cole and Peter Daniel analyse the ways in which individuals can achieve the full sale price of their businesses (with some help from Mr Benjamin Franklin). What the article highlights is that the tax landscape for owner-managers can be complex as various taxes cross over at different points in a business’s lifetime.Given that a number of tax reliefs and exemptions require that shareholdings have been owned for a specific period of time before a chargeable event (notably Entrepreneurs Relief and Business Property Relief for capital gains tax and inheritance tax respectively), owner-managers should plan well in advance of any sales of gifts.

I was interested to read that James Hambro have suggested to clients that they may want to consider reviewing assets standing at a gain to see whether they wish to dispose of them now in the expectancy that Capital Gains Tax (CGT) rates will increase after the next budget.CGT is sometimes regarded as a tax on the wealthy, and therefore could be seen as a good target for increased taxation politically. In fact, as identified by St. James Place (https://www.sjp.co.uk/wealth-management/tax-year-end-2018/capital-gains-tax), HM Revenue and Customs raises more money from CGT than it does from Inheritance Tax. If you sell any investments that were not held in a pension fund or an ISA, you could be liable for CGT on the profits you earned. The same goes for sales of buy-to-let property or, indeed, any property which is not your main residence. CGT therefore affects many more people than some may think and any political maneuvering to increase rates could be felt widely.

The Telegraph reports this morning that many executors are not aware that they are liable to pay taxes on income produced by estate assets during the administration period.Executors are personally liable to pay the tax and therefore, if they distribute the whole estate thinking there is nothing else to pay, they may find themselves hit with a liability they do not have the funds to meet. Assets such as cyrptocurrencies and more sophisticated investments can make estates more complex and executors may feel that they need to take an increased amount of advice to ensure that all liabilities are dealt with properly.

Vince Cable has suggested the creation of a ‘citizen fund’ to help the wider population benefit from investment returns.Of particular interest is the suggestion to abolish inheritance tax and instead tax gifts during people’s lifetimes. Lifetime giving can still be a very efficient form of estate planning in the right circumstances but replacing tax on death is unlikely to encourage people to give assets away during their lifetime. Further, the current exemptions are not all the generous and many people already fall foul of the current limits.The other suggestions such as putting ‘capital gains tax at the same level of income tax’ would more likely have a larger impact on the government purse, but will likely prove unpopular, particularly with small business owners who may be already feeling the squeeze due to increased costs.

HMRC failed to apply the 7.5% basic rate dividend tax credit to non-resident trustees in the tax year 2016/17. HMRC has confirmed that it is aware of the issue and that it has resolved the problem for the 2017/18 trust tax calculations, but has not yet confirmed how it intends to respond.These oversights demonstrate the importance of reviewing self assessment tax returns carefully. It is critical that non-resident trustees take appropriate advice if they feel that they may have been exposed to the error. When even HMRC are prone to such lapses it really does highlight the increasing speed with which the offshore tax landscape has changed.

Philip Hammond’s Budget of Autumn 2017 isn’t daring, it may disappoint some, it could be said to take boringness to an art form, but I think it does for the first time in many years contain a vision about the country which can be seen to be shaping the tax announcements. Other than for the fortunate few super rich, UK Budgets and Autumn Statements have been increasingly boring, more memorable for cock ups than any great policy announcement. There has been a growing sense that in the field of personal taxation, tax policy is dead. Chancellors haven’t had any overriding vision guiding and shaping the tax system other perhaps than a consensus that the least well-off should not be burdened by tax. In the main, personal tax policy has been a mess created by a stealth tax here, a raid on the wealthy there, layers of anti-avoidance legislation and investment in compliance. With each passing year it has had less and less of an intelligible overall design and coherence.I think this Budget does contain measures which are consistent with a coherent vision of the country and does suggest the Chancellor believes that tax policy has a role to play in shaping society. The centrepiece of this Budget is undoubtedly the pledge to build 300,000 new homes a year, alongside an SDLT break for first-time buyers, and a promise of extra funding for the NHS. There are a smattering of measures which represent investment in a modern green digital economy. And what all this represents is a small “c” conservative vision of the country. A land of family homes in leafy suburbs and what’s more a freeze on fuel duty and a freeze on alcohol duty so we can enjoy our cars and a Peroni or glass of chardonnay (preferably not at the same time).There are rail cards for millennials because before you graduate to proper motorised family living you need to use the train. Foreigners will be taxed more and tax avoiders and tax evaders will continue to be pursued. As I read through the announcements and thought of what this Budget represents, what came to mind was John Major’s famous description of the UK as “the country of long shadows on county grounds, warm beer, invincible green suburbs, dog lovers and pools fillers and, as George Orwell said, ‘Old maids bicycling to holy communion through the morning mist’”. This feels a lot like the country of my childhood or slightly earlier, pre-Thatcherite, maybe public-minded, possibly wholesome, not very international. The land of Postman Pat.Philip Hammond may have been surprisingly politically astute with this Budget, crafting something which is both a non-event and makes people feel a slight glow inside, like Major’s warm beer. I find it reassuring that there is some sign of direction in tax policy. But if the Chancellor gets to deliver another Budget I think he needs to think harder about what that direction should be, and whether he can take our progress up a gear or two, and how a really imaginative tax policy could assist with that. In 1993, John Major was delivering a pro-European speech but reassuring his audience that traditional English ways would continue unchanged. Philip Hammond, one of the great Remainers of this Government, is looking at Brexit Britain and he is faced with forecasts of feeble growth. Unless something dramatic changes, the beautiful new green suburbs he builds are going to be eerily quiet.