Tax Planning
Tax Planning finds ways of reducing the tax likely to be deducted from your estate after you pass away. It also minimises the tax payable during your lifetime. Without it, you and your family could lose out, and HMRC could become your biggest beneficiary.
Our service looks at your overall position and helps you plan. We advise on Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Stamp Duty Land Tax, and Inheritance Tax.
It is better to do Tax Planning sooner rather than later, as it can take years to qualify for essential reliefs.
Call or email us today to discuss a tax planning report.
Who needs a tax planning report?
Anyone requiring advice on Estate Planning, Capital Gains Tax and Income Tax will benefit from a report. Tax planning is essential if you have substantial assets, especially if you’re considering passing them on in your lifetime. And significant tax savings are still available to people who aren’t considering making these gifts.
What is Inheritance Tax?
Inheritance Tax (IHT) is payable on the estate left by a deceased person. Your Executors will be in charge of paying your IHT to HMRC. It is payable on the value of all of your property, possessions, and money over the Nil Rate Bands and after the various reliefs available. The standard IHT Nil Rate Band is £325,000. If you leave your home to your children or grandchildren, there is an additional Residential Nil Rate Band of £175,000. Inheritance Tax takes 40% of your taxable estate, after these Nil Rate Bands and other allowances.
Please see further details and advice on our page all about IHT.
“Inheritance Tax – it is, broadly speaking; a voluntary levy paid by those who distrust their heirs more than they dislike the Inland Revenue.” – Roy Jenkins.
What is Capital Gains Tax?
Capital Gains Tax (CGT) applies to the profit on a sale or ‘disposal’ of an asset that has increased value. Disposals can arise when selling, making gifts, receiving compensation, or swapping. CGT is payable on gains on property, business assets, most personal possessions worth above £6,000, and shares held outside an ISA. You only have to pay tax on gains above the annual exempt amount, which for 2026/27 is £3,000 for individuals and £1,500 for most trusts. There are also some valuable reliefs, including Principal Private Residence Relief and Business Asset Disposal Relief, which from 6 April 2026 is charged at 18% on qualifying gains up to a £1 million lifetime limit.
What is Income Tax?
Income Tax is a tax on income; including::
- Employment
- Self-employment profits
- Rental income
- Interest on savings
- Most pensions
In most cases, the higher your income, the higher your tax rate. The basic rate is 20%, the higher rate is 40%, and the additional rate is 45%. Most UK residents have a Personal Allowance, which is a tax-free income – this is £12,570.
“Every man is entitled, if he can, to order his affairs so that the tax attaching under the appropriate Acts is less than it otherwise would be. If he succeeds in ordering them so as to secure this result, then, however unappreciative the Commissioners of Inland Revenue or his fellow taxpayers may be of his ingenuity, he cannot be compelled to pay an increased tax.” – Lord Tomlin.
What is Stamp Duty Land Tax?
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is usually payable on buying valuable property or land in England or Northern Ireland. There are different rules in Scotland and Wales.
The SDLT threshold is £125,000 for residential properties and £150,000 for land and properties which are non-residential. You have to pay SDLT if you buy:
- A new or existing leasehold property
- A freehold property
- A property through a shared ownership scheme
You will also have to pay SDLT if you receive land or property in exchange for payment, e.g. taking on a mortgage. Various reliefs may apply, such as buying your first home or buying more than one property.
What a tax planning report includes
We can help you get Tax Planning right to keep more hard-earned money for yourself and your family. Enjoy approved tax breaks and minimise what you pay – while staying within the law. Your report can include:
- Making full use of the available exemptions and reliefs
- Identifying opportunities to use Trusts
- Family wealth spreading
- Saving tax and keeping control of your assets
- How to maximise allowances and reliefs
- Planning tailored to your circumstances
- How to deal with HMRC
- Review of your Will
There are exemptions to Inheritance Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Stamp Duty Land Tax, and Income Tax which can all be explored and may help reduce your tax costs. These include making efficient gifts, planning how to leave your estate to others, and further relief.
A Lifetime Trust can help you control how and when your family inherits. Trusts are not a way of avoiding Inheritance Tax and they carry charges of their own, which we will explain before you commit.
How we can help
Tax planning reports are produced by our associated firm, Mercian Accountants. Their experienced tax advisers and accountants can recommend the right planning for your situation. Every case is different, so they will discuss your circumstances in detail, give you personal guidance, and produce an action plan setting out what you need to do. Where that plan needs a will, a trust or a lasting power of attorney, we put it into effect.
The planning is bespoke for each client and takes advantage of available tax reliefs and low-risk planning techniques. They never deal with template schemes that might attract HMRC’s attention.
They employ tax advisers with big four accountancy firm experience, but at affordable fees, and you will always deal with the same person.
Our associated firm, Mercian Accountants, publishes a brochure on the tax planning reports: what each one answers, what it covers, and what it costs. Download the tax planning brochure.
Minimise tax costs and protect your legacy from HMRC with a tax planning report today.
Ready to know more?
Get in touch and speak to one of our friendly advisers today.
What a tax planning report costs
Tax planning reports are produced by our associated firm, Mercian Accountants, and are priced separately. Our own price list covers wills, lasting powers of attorney and trusts.
Each report carries a fixed fee, set by the size of the assets or the income the work covers. It is never a share of the tax saved. You have the figure in writing, with what it covers, before you decide. The tax planning brochure sets out all eight reports and the fee for each.
You can read what is included at each of our own service levels on our Service Levels page, and our fees are in our price list.
Your free review tells you what you need before you commit to anything. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
April 2027: pensions come into Inheritance Tax
For deaths on or after 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds fall within the value of your estate. This is law, not a proposal. If you have a pension and have not looked at your estate since, that is the change to look at first, and it is one of the things a tax planning report is for.
Who you are dealing with
- Institute of Professional Willwriters member, under the only willwriting code approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute
- SRA-regulated solicitors draft all reserved documents
- Supervised by HMRC for the Money Laundering Regulations
- £2m professional indemnity and £2m public liability cover
- DBS checked staff, or equivalent
For complex tax or trust positions we refer to a STEP-qualified solicitor who is also a member of the Association of Lifetime Lawyers, and to chartered qualified accountants and chartered tax advisers.
