Search

I am 35 and disabled. I live with my parents and my mum is also disabled. Our incomes are intertwined, the three of us supporting the three of us.

But I am one of four children and my parents used the EU Regulation, allowing UK law, to make their will. I inherit everything and, depending on circumstance, will pay virtually zero inheritance tax.

My will, however, is harder as I have neither husband or children. There is no cash involved, just a property. I will leave it (my parents fully support this) to my niece and nephew. However, inheritance tax is around 55%.

Are there ways to cut the bill as they would have to sell a place they love to pay the tax?  H.G.

Some time before a UK resident sells a holiday home in France they may have made a donation-partage to their children (a legal procedure, sharing property among one’s children in one’s lifetime; for example giving them a legal right to a house, while retaining lifetime use). In some scenarios this might later have been revoked. How does this affect French capital gains tax and social taxes when it is sold?  W.O.

In a recent edition you mention how a notaire is required when you make a gift of a property (bricks and mortar). Is a notaire also needed for other kinds of gift? P.W.

My father, a UK resident, bought a French holiday home in 1998 for 60,000FF. He formally gifted it to me in 2006. My siblings received gifts in the UK to compensate. My father held no other assets in France. He died this year. Does his estate owe any taxes in France in relation to this gift?  R.H.

Brittany has the world’s greatest concentration of lighthouses, with 27 classed as historic monuments. Most are in Finistère and eight are open to the public.

Founding chairman of air-quality monitoring company celebrates 40 years in business by sharing nearly €2million among employees

When a childless person wants to leave money to a nephew or niece am I right in thinking that, although there is no special allowance on death, there is a special tax-free allowance of €31,865 for a lifetime gift – at least within France? However, I don’t know if any British gift tax would then apply if the donor lived in France and the nephew lived in Britain?  M.R.

We are both divorced and not remarried and live and pay tax in the UK. We bought a second home in France in 1997, ‘en indivision’. I have two children and my partner a son from the previous marriages. She wants to help her son buy UK property so I plan to buy her half share of the French house. Should I do this after 2019 to avoid CGT and the 22-year rule? As outright owner, should I add a codicil to my UK will to ensure only my children inherit? What French or UK taxes do I face and are there other drawbacks?  J.G.

The donation of nue-propriété of a parent’s home to a child appears at face value to be an attractive tax-efficient inheritance option as long as the donor lives 15 years. But what are the capital gains tax implications?  I.H.

In June 2017 I took part in a sponsored cycle ride on behalf of Cancer Support France and, as a result, I have a number of fiscal receipts in my name for some of the money that was donated. Which box do I need to declare these amounts in when I fill in my tax return for 2017? A.G.