Geraint Jones, BKL’s Head of Private Client Tax, has commented for CampdenFB on HMRC’s launch of the specialist Family Investment Companies Unit to conduct risk reviews of private companies used by family offices and high net worth individuals to manage their wealth.
Geraint Jones … said HMRC was apparently concerned that FICs offered a route to considerably reduce inheritance tax liabilities, largely by bringing an estate and its beneficiaries into the fold of a company structure as shareholders.
“If the review is concerned with flowering share structures as an avoidance device, the best advice is to sit tight at this stage,” Jones said.
“The FIC structure still offers clearer advantages than disadvantages when it comes to protecting wealth, particularly since trusts have fallen out of favour.”
The full article is available to read on CampdenFB’s website.
For more information on family investment companies (FICs) and their tax advantages, our specialists in tax and family wealth management would be pleased to help. Please get in touch with your usual BKL contact or use our enquiry form.