This book, published under the new Bloomsbury imprint following its acquisition of Tottel Publishing, is described in the author’s preface as intended for those advising ‘average’ middle income clients whose house is worth in excess of the available nil rate band, but who do not hold a great deal of wealth outside the family home.

This is a promising start as many clients will fall into this exact category. They do not want to pay inheritance tax, but do not have sufficient assets to implement complex tax planning schemes, nor do they simply want to give it all away.

The first 21 chapters of the book serve as a brief reminder of the basic principles involved in calculating inheritance tax and capital gains tax liabilities in respect of trusts, lifetime giving and death estates. However, this part of the book is more a point of a reference than an actual practical guide; if you needed to be reminded of how the rules apply to immediate post-death interest trusts you may find the answer here, but if you require detailed worked examples you may be disappointed.

Nevertheless, the title of the book suggests that it is intended as an aid to planning and, taking it in that context, the supporting introductory chapters are clear, concise, and also contain very useful end-of-chapter summaries bringing out the main points.

The planning section of the book comprises probably half the volume, although this part has been divided into much broader chapters than the first part. The advice contained within is relevant and suited to the target client but, as with the introductory chapters, this is more of a reference work on tax treatment than a planning guide.

The chapters are widely drawn and each contains numerous different issues that can make it difficult to identify specific ideas from within a larger remit. Having said that, the author clearly identifies problem areas, complications and possible variations of a number of the ideas discussed. In particular, the question ‘is this of any use now’ is oft en posed in the will planning chapter, where the advent of the transferable nil rate band may render such planning ineffective or not worthwhile.

This book is an adequate reference material, and may be of use in identifying some of the issues applying to clients but it would not necessarily give the reader confidence that all options had been explored.

Reviewed by Sam Hart
Taxation Magazine, January 2010