My clients own shares in a property investment company and are looking to reduce the number of shares they own in order to reduce their exposure to inheritance tax (IHT), perhaps by gifts to their children. What are some of the options available to them?

As the company’s business is letting properties, the shares will not qualify for business property relief (BPR) and so no specific reliefs are available. But there are other options.

A gift of shares to family members would be a chargeable disposal for capital gains tax (CGT) purposes, but no holdover relief would be available under section 165 or section 260 Taxation on Chargeable Gains Act (TCGA 1992).