Balfour case puts business relief 'at heart of IHT planning'

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) this month lost a court battle over tax it claims it was owed on a 2,000-acre Scottish estate once owned by the late British Prime Minister Arthur Balfour. Balfour's descendants successfully argued the estate was mainly a business, and therefore qualified for BPR, and not an investment enterprise as argued by HMRC. BPR spares business owners from IHT when they transfer holdings to relatives. Lawyers Boodle Hatfield says the potential to claim 100% BPR from IHT through the careful structuring of business activities highlights the use of the relief in tax...