Coutts £1m minimum - does it 'mean' anything?

PloughmansLunch

Malthusian said:

A £100,000 fee (5%+ with no decency cap) to stick your money in something that qualifies for Business Relief / Agricultural Relief? Whur be yon farmers' yachts to?

My understanding is this is a wheeze to buy a big estate with an element of a working farm e.g arable land, then you can give it to your children IHT-free. It then becomes their "main residence" and can be flogged off with little to zero capital gains.

Malthusian

PloughmansLunch said:

My understanding is this is a wheeze to buy a big estate with an element of a working farm e.g arable land, then you can give it to your children IHT-free. It then becomes their "main residence" and can be flogged off with little to zero capital gains.

Sounds interesting but the "big estate" would not qualify for Agricultural Relief, only the working farm part.

HMRC says:
Buildings must be of a nature and size appropriate to the farming activity that is taking place. The property is valued as if it could only be used for agricultural purposes. Any value over and above this ‘agricultural value’, such as the market price of a country residence, does not qualify for Agricultural Relief.

I can see the appeal of using your wealth to do a Jeremy Clarkson and play at running a vineyard or something (with an IHT saving as a side benefit), I'm just not seeing the justification for paying a mega-fee to do it. 
Nothing wrong with Business Relief or Agricultural Relief as an IHT mitigation strategy, but any high street IFA can recommend investments that qualify for Business Relief, without needing to start a new career working the soil.