Become a shareholder as part of IHT planning

Making financial gifts later in life in the context of planning for reducing inheritance tax (IHT) bills usually comes with the caveat that it will take seven years for it to be effective. But if a client's beneficiaries run a business, the client could consider becoming a shareholder in it and reduce the seven years to two. IHT is often called a voluntary tax. Compared to the rigidity of estate duty, the possibility of avoiding or reducing IHT by just giving away assets and surviving seven years seems pretty attractive. The most difficult part, for some at least, is staying alive for...