Where things get complicated is when an irrevocable trust makes distributions to beneficiaries.

As she died 4 to 5 years after making the gift and as tax is due on the gift, taper relief will apply to the tax.

The beneficiaries do not have any entitlement to the trust fund thus it does not form part of their estate on divorce, bankruptcy or death. Discretionary trusts can only arise as express trusts. Print this page, It looks like you have JavaScript disabled. Irrevocable trusts, however, are generally separate entities for tax purposes. It would also be useful if you could give us some idea of what you’d like to discuss. Many cases are more complicated, with so-called complex trusts that allow for accumulation of income, permit distributions of trust principal, or provide for charitable beneficiaries. There is no IHT charge on the gifts however they do eat up some of his NRB which reduces what can be used against the rest of his estate. However he did make previous gifts when he was setting this one up which impacts on the calculation -. In that case, some of the taxable income gets carried outside the trust, with the beneficiary assuming responsibility for paying any resulting tax. Twelve months previously he had made a PET of £120,000. That exceeds the NRB by £93,750 which gives rise to a 20% tax charge of £18,750. ), Related: How gift allowances can be used to reduce inheritance tax. If Lisa was included as a beneficiary then the value of the trust would be included in her estate.
First, the trustees usually have the power to determine which beneficiaries (from within the class) will receive payments from the trust.

Lisa’s discretionary trust is a straightforward gift trust – because she was prepared to gift this money and not retain access for herself in any shape or form, but there are other types of discretionary trust where the settlor can retain a right to something for themselves. Discretionary trusts can be discretionary in two respects.

The main thing when using a “class” of beneficiary is that it needs to be identifiable – so something like ‘children’, ‘grandchildren’, ‘nieces and nephews’ can be identified, but you couldn’t use something like ‘all my friends’ because how would the trustees know who you think of as friends?
Upon every tenth anniversary the trust value in excess of the Nil Rate Band will be taxed at a maximum rate of 6% of its value.

A discretionary trust, in the trust law of England, Australia, Canada and other common law jurisdictions, is a trust where the beneficiaries and/or their entitlements to the trust fund are not fixed, but are determined by the criteria set out in the trust instrument by the settlor. Although most discretionary trusts allow both types of discretion, either can be allowed on its own. Nigel makes a gift of £300,000 into a discretionary trust. There have been no distributions from the trust fund so far.

When the NRB is £325,000, Graeme makes a gift of £50,000 into a discretionary trust for the benefit of his grandchildren. She hasn't used any of her £325,000 personal allowance in the last seven years. The date when all of the principal objects of the trust reach 21 years. These cookies are set as session cookies and will be deleted once you close this browsing session. The first £1,000 is taxed at the standard rate. The date the property becomes subject to the trust.

A discretionary discounted gift trust allows the settlor to retain a right to a fixed level of income (usually up to 5% of the original investment) each year and this continues for life, or until the trust fund runs out if they live long enough. When assessing the charge applicable when funds are distributed to a beneficiary, we need to consider 2 scenarios.

If you’re NOT a UK financial adviser, please do not view this website as it hasn’t been approved for customers. For UK financial advisers only, not approved for use by retail customers. This leads us onto a very important point. If the tax due on death is less than the entry charge already paid, there is no reclaim available for the trustees.

These include trusts that are set up exclusively for: You must complete self-assessment returns for the 6% and 1% DTT and send them to Revenue with the tax due.

For example if she appointed both her sisters as trustees then, after Lisa dies, the trustees (her sisters) may decide to pass the trust assets to their children and not pass anything to their brother’s children or to Lisa’s own son. The trustees are also responsible for paying tax on any income received by the trust. The position with a duty to consider exercising discretion in non-exhaustive discretionary trusts is more complicated, as the duty to exercise discretion can be satisfied by deciding to accumulate.