POAT: understanding a tax that most people haven’t even heard of

All taxes need simplification if the government is to achieve its aim of collecting all taxes due, and you cannot report what you do not know about.

And what if you unfortunately find yourself with a POAT issue and cannot afford or do not want to pay the tax? HMRC has a solution: you can elect to be caught by the IHT gift with reservation of benefit rules instead, so it can potentially collect IHT on your death.

One way or the other, tax can bite, and which regime is more favourable will depend on a number of factors for which specialist advice is essential. 

Nadia Cowdrey is a partner at DMH Stallard