Gifts and iht403

V2001

Ok so form iht400 q.30 asks if deceased made any lifetime gifts after 1986 fill iht403.
Ive discovered Deceased made lots of lifetime gifts consisting of cash over 10k and property gifting. But none of them were 7 years before his death.

I'm baffled does each gift need to be declared after 1986. I rang the iht helpline twice, one person said no as it was before 7 years. The other person I spoke to said yes it has to be declared so hmrc can determine if any of the gifts are considered Gift With Reservations. I am sure none of the gifts made are a gwr.

I'm confused how to handle this now,  any advice appreciated as to whether I answer yes or no to filling in iht403

Keep_pedalling

You only have to declare gifts over 7 years on IHT 403 if they fall under the gifts with reservation of benefit  (GWR) or pre-owned assets (POA) rules.

Examples of GWR would be giving away your own home and continuing to live in it or giving away another property but keeping the rental income it produced.

An example of POA would be making a cash gift which is then used to buy a house that you then live in.

If that does to apply to any of the older gifts then you do not need to declare them.

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Keep_pedalling said:

You only have to declare gifts over 7 years on IHT 403 if they fall under the gifts with reservation of benefit  (GWR) or pre-owned assets (POA) rules.

Examples of GWR would be giving away your own home and continuing to live in it or giving away another property but keeping the rental income it produced.

An example of POA would be making a cash gift which is then used to buy a house that you then live in.

If that does to apply to any of the older gifts then you do not need to declare them.

I dont agree with answering no to older gifts and you could get a fine if you fail to disclose any transfers of value not within the exceptions.  It's not for you to decide if any transfers fall under GWR or POA, thats for HMRC to look into and investigate. They are asking for you to list any transfers after 1986, unless:

guidance notes:

You can tick 'No' and do not need to fill in Schedule IHT403 if the only gifts made by the deceased were in the following categories:

- to their spouse or civil partner and Spouse or Civil Partner Exemption applies
- outright gifts to any individual which do not exceed £250 in any one year (these will be covered by the Small Gifts Exemption)
- outright gifts to any individual of money or listed stocks and shares that are wholly covered by the Annual Exemption
- outright gifts made regularly from income where the total gifts did not exceed £3,000 in each year

These exemptions are detailed on page 74 of this guide. If the deceased had made any other gifts or 'transfers of value' since 18 March 1986, including transfers into trust, payment of insurance premiums for the benefit of another person, advances out of a trust fund or any assets that were taken out of a trust before death, you must fill in Schedule IHT403, 'Gifts and other transfers of value'. In general, a 'transfer of value' is any transaction where the deceased did not receive full value in exchange.

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However I do agree if someone has made say hundreds of cash gifts and they have genuinely fallen out of estate it make no sense to list them after 1986. But the layout, wording of form iht403 is very unclear.... and you really have to declare everything you know