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Help me understand gifts

Hi there,

I read direct.gov.uk and hmrc.gov.uk but I'm none the wiser on gifts.
From what I understand, any gift to you is tax free but if the person gifting dies within 7 years, you must pay inheritance tax on it.

As I'm not originally from the UK, I just want to make sure that gifts themselves are not taxed in any shape or form. In Germany for instance, any cash gift above a certain amount is taxed. Is that so for the UK?

Reason I'm asking is that my parents want to help with with buying property and they got cash in a no-interest UK account at the moment and are interested in gifting me all the money so I can put it into a high interest account for the time being under my name.

Could you please help on any intricacies this may present?

Comments

  • RayWolfe
    RayWolfe Posts: 3,045 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    avgjoe wrote: »
    From what I understand, any gift to you is tax free but if the person gifting dies within 7 years, you must pay inheritance tax on it.
    Your understanding is entirely correct, except that normally the estate pays any IHT on the gift if the seven year rule is not met and the estate is large enough.
    Do a search here on gifts.
  • margaretclare
    margaretclare Posts: 10,789 Forumite
    It is my understanding that inheritance tax only applies if a person's total estate at death is £325,000 or above. Look at this for factual information: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/inheritancetax/index.htm
    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Æ[/FONT]r ic wisdom funde, [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]æ[/FONT]r wear[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]ð[/FONT] ic eald.
    Before I found wisdom, I became old.
  • avgjoe
    avgjoe Posts: 80 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Thanks you two, that perfectly answered my question and I have now also read another thread on pretty much the same issue! :)
  • Hi,

    You can find the details on cash gifts on the government's official websites.

    Law states that one or more individuals can give gift to another individual of up to twelve thousand dollars each per calendar year without any tax liability to either the giver or receiver of the gift, because the tax on the gift has already been paid. These gifts are not included in the gross income of the recipient.
  • dzug1
    dzug1 Posts: 13,535 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Alexia_H wrote: »
    Hi,

    You can find the details on cash gifts on the government's official websites.

    Law states that one or more individuals can give gift to another individual of up to twelve thousand dollars each per calendar year without any tax liability to either the giver or receiver of the gift, because the tax on the gift has already been paid. These gifts are not included in the gross income of the recipient.


    What country are we taking about Alexia H? We don't do $$ here.
  • Hi,

    The basic thing that is included with a good cash gifting program is a quality mentor program. The mentor is very important to your success in cash gifting. Many people are not familiar with the methods that are involved with Internet promotion and marketing and will need some advice and guidance.
  • dzug1
    dzug1 Posts: 13,535 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Erick wrote: »
    Hi,

    The basic thing that is included with a good cash gifting program is a quality mentor program. The mentor is very important to your success in cash gifting. Many people are not familiar with the methods that are involved with Internet promotion and marketing and will need some advice and guidance.


    Well yes the advice and guidance that should be given is that cash gifting in this context is akin to pyramid selling, illegal and a sure fire loser.

    What's it got to do with this thread?
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