Receiving wealth from non-EU family

AdrianJ

Hello all,

My wife originally comes from China but is a UK citizen living here full time in England, and her parents have an amount of wealth that they want to transfer to her.
This wealth arises from a property that they have just sold and it results in over £200,000 that they wish to pass over to her.

I hope its ok to list a few questions....and I'd really appreciate it if the answers are based up on fact rather than opinion as we are talking about quite a lot of money. Cheers.

1) will HMRC or other government office call up on my wife to pay tax when this amount arrives? If so how much would they be wanting from this amount of wealth?

2) if she receives the wealth in smaller amounts over time...would this make any difference?

3) would receiving this wealth be classed as a 'gift' or as 'inheritance' or as something else?

4) would the government be interested at all ? - as the wealth was not generated in the UK.

HappyHarry

AdrianJ wrote: »

Hello all,

My wife originally comes from China but is a UK citizen living here full time in England, and her parents have an amount of wealth that they want to transfer to her.
This wealth arises from a property that they have just sold and it results in over £200,000 that they wish to pass over to her.

I hope its ok to list a few questions....and I'd really appreciate it if the answers are based up on fact rather than opinion as we are talking about quite a lot of money. Cheers.

1) will HMRC or other government office call up on my wife to pay tax when this amount arrives? If so how much would they be wanting from this amount of wealth?

2) if she receives the wealth in smaller amounts over time...would this make any difference?

3) would receiving this wealth be classed as a 'gift' or as 'inheritance' or as something else?

4) would the government be interested at all ? - as the wealth was not generated in the UK.

1. There is no UK tax on gifts, so HMRC will not be looking to tax this gift.
2. See 1.
3. Gift - see 1.
4. Your wife's bank may well view this transaction with suspicion. It might be best for your wife to talk to her bank well before the money arrives, to try and deal with any issues in advance.

Linton

AdrianJ wrote: »

Hello all,

My wife originally comes from China but is a UK citizen living here full time in England, and her parents have an amount of wealth that they want to transfer to her.
This wealth arises from a property that they have just sold and it results in over £200,000 that they wish to pass over to her.
...........

1) will HMRC or other government office call up on my wife to pay tax when this amount arrives? If so how much would they be wanting from this amount of wealth?

There is no gift tax in the UK. I assume that your wife is not a part owner of the house and that the whole of the £200K is a true gift.

2) if she receives the wealth in smaller amounts over time...would this make any difference?

Irrelevent

3) would receiving this wealth be classed as a 'gift' or as 'inheritance' or as something else?

Gift.

4) would the government be interested at all ? - as the wealth was not generated in the UK.

Assuming that your wifes parents are Chinese citizens living in China then the government would not be interested.


With a very large sum turning up from abroad there could well be a problem with your wife's bank's money laundering checks. Your wife may need to be able to show that the money is a gift and be able to identify its origin. Perhaps a signed letter from her parents may be appropriate

AdrianJ

Thanks for your reply Harry,

So if I read your reply correctly this would be considered a gift. They could simply wire transfer the money from China to my wife's UK bank account and there would be no obligation for my wife to notify HMRC? And with that HMRC wouldn't come chasing later down the line?

(and to avoid any issues with investigations in to money laundering etc. my wife would need to prior notify her bank that the money is to arrive and an explanation of what the money is about) ?

Cheers.

AdrianJ

Linton - also thanks for your reply.
Cheers.

HappyHarry

AdrianJ wrote: »

Thanks for your reply Harry,

So if I read your reply correctly this would be considered a gift. They could simply wire transfer the money from China to my wife's UK bank account and there would be no obligation for my wife to notify HMRC? And with that HMRC wouldn't come chasing later down the line?

(and to avoid any issues with investigations in to money laundering etc. my wife would need to prior notify her bank that the money is to arrive and an explanation of what the money is about) ?

Cheers.

That's correct.

tacpot12

It might be useful if your wife could get also a copy of an original document that shows how her parents got the money, e.g. something from the sale process in China that shows the amount received by her parents for the sale of the property. It doesn't matter if it is in Chinese, HMRC (or anyone else) can pay to get it translated if they want to prove that your wife's windfall is not the proceeds of a crime she committed.

AdrianJ

Just one final question - would her parents in China have to out live the gift by 7 years for any particular reason?
Or is this not applicable ?

Mojisola

AdrianJ wrote: »

Just one final question - would her parents in China have to out live the gift by 7 years for any particular reason?
Or is this not applicable ?

That would depend on the rules around inheritance tax in China.

AdrianJ

Thanks all for the replies !
I've been struggling to find such information on official websites....you've been a huge help.

AnotherJoe

I have a suggestion.

There is a possibility that the account the money will be paid into could be frozen for money laundering checks. Thats irrespective whatever the bank may say when you give them advance notice of a large incoming payment.
So unless you cant avoid it, you dont want the account the money is paid into, to be the main one your pay goes into and bills come out of, in case they do freeze it.