Making the most of business property reliefs

If you own a trading business, company or farm, some or all of its value will be exempted from inheritance tax when you die. This is due to business and agricultural property reliefs.

As a result, currently the most tax efficient method of business succession is to retain ownership and pass it on via your will, free from inheritance tax with also a capital gains tax uplift to its base cost, meaning your beneficiaries can sell it free of tax (which can sometimes act as a barrier to effective business succession).