Death and Taxes: life’s two certainties
It’s the one thing nobody wants to think about,
but for the sake of our families it is important
that we plan for when we are no longer here. As
the saying goes, there are only two things which
are certain in life: death and taxes, but
succession planning is important for both of
those reasons.
Planning ahead can save a family much heartache and
expense in the future and the earlier you start, the
better.
Carver Knowles Managing Director Andrew
Troughton explains; “Whilst it’s not something
anyone wants to consider, it has to be done. Not
planning ahead can cause families anguish and has
meant that people have had to sell up or sell off parts
of their holdings in the past to meet big tax bills, or
they’ve reached a cliff edge without really thinking
what will happen to the farm.
There will be a lot to consider with succession planning
and it is often easier if a business plan is put together
to give everyone something to work towards, taking
account of things like growth plans and diversification
It will give the chance to make sure the holding can
adapt to support those who will succeed in the
meantime, if that is the intention.
On the back of the planning, families should look at
whether any wills need to be changed to take account
of the planned succession, as it will likely be the older
generation who hold the assets, and there may well be
a need to consider Inheritance Tax implications too.
As with any plan, it’s important to be able to adapt
and review it as a family. Business circumstances can
change, and it’s very rare that everything goes exactly to
The first step really is to start talking about it. Get
everyone involved in the room and begin the discussion
to encourage everyone to start thinking about it. Ideally
this should be done whilst the older generation are still
actively involved, and ideally when the next generation
are in their early 20s or 30s.
It should be an open and frank discussion about what
everyone’s intentions are and on the back of it you
should be looking to develop a long term plan, ideally of
20 years, to give everyone chance to work towards it”.
Grant Update from Mike Cluley
A brief run through of some of the schemes currently available, and those we’re expecting to open in the future:
NOW OPEN
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The Growth Programme is accepting applications for Tourism, Food Processing and Business Development until the
Autumn of 2016.
The LEADER programme is now taking expressions of interest. Availability is area based.
COMING SOON
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The Countryside Stewardship scheme will be open again from July - September
2016.
We expect The Woodland Grants, Water Quality Grants and the Farming and
Forestry Productivity Scheme to open sometime next year. Watch this space for
further details.
STEPS – Severn Trent Capital Grants Scheme – further information to follow.
If you’re looking at how you can grow your land based business, or
looking to invest in capital projects on your farm then contact us.
We can advise you as to exactly what you’re eligible for, and prepare
your application.