Capital gains tax may be payable on the lifetime transfer or sale of assets with substantial unrealised gains. These may be assets that clients wish to pass on to younger generations as part of their own estate planning, or assets which they wish to sell as part of a business sale or restructuring.
Whatever the situation, we are able to provide expert advice on the capital gains tax that may be payable, and also on ways of mitigating it over the longer term. Often this involves the use of holdover relief or rollover relief where existing unrealised gains can be deferred and the capital gains tax charge can “skip” a generation. Alternatively, it can involve advising on how to avoid a capital gains tax charge altogether.
Entrepreneurs' relief
Entrepreneurs' relief can lead to a sizeable reduction in a client's capital gains tax exposure where the sale of a business is involved. Crystallising a gain and claiming entrepreneurs' relief, or rolling a gain over into new business assets instead, can often be an important decision to make. We are able to advise on all aspects of this, as well as considering the best strategy from a long-term perspective.
CGT planning
Frequently, capital gains tax planning involves the transfer of assets between spouses and into discretionary trusts. Conditional exemption can also play a part where heritage assets are involved, and our advice always takes wider reliefs and other taxes into account, where relevant.
CGT on real estate
Frequently, Principal Private Residence Relief may be available for individuals who are disposing of their homes. We can advise on possible ways of securing the maximum relief available, so that any capital gains tax charge can be mitigated where possible.
We are proud to be ranked by Legal 500 as the leading firm in Yorkshire and the Humber for agriculture and estates and personal tax, trusts and probate, and by Chambers as one of only two top-tier private client firms in Leeds.
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