Despite the occasional daydream, I think I have mostly accepted that my [British born] wife and I will never move to Canada. But.. retirement looms and I am looking at my pension [from 2027] as well as my house [south east England] being caught up in inheritance taxes. I suspect it will never happen, but any thoughts on the feasibility of moving to Canada as a retired couple and still returning occasionally to the UK, but not enough to be tax resident?

I suspect that all UK based assets would have to be moved to Canada as well? [uh... actually, that is the pension].

I understand all the lifestyle challenges, etc and she has been to Alberta in December, that is one of the reasons Canada is off the table!. This question is about whether it is even feasible from a tax perspective.

And it sure is quiet in this forum these days!

What IHT would you be trying to avoid - your own estate being passed on? Or one you’re exciting to inherit?

And are you both Canadian citizens?

hi, it is my estate passing on and I am the only Canadian in the couple.

And the beneficiary of your wills would be in Canada too? You'd need to make sure you left nothing in the UK then, and transferring investment accounts can be tricky. And sponsor your wife for PR if she doesn't have it already. And lose any pension increases.

It would depend on the size of the estate, but if that is the only reason for doing it, I'm not sure it would be worth it personally. You may be better off looking at taking out a life insurance policy that covers the IHT (my parents did that for my brother and I) and/or putting as much as possible in trust instead (ditto). You could also look at gifting things now if you don't plan to die in the next 7 years.

I'd get good advice from a financial advisor if your main aim is to avoid IHT.

First of all you should take a careful look at how much IHT you will actually save, and ask yourself is that enough to justify [1] the upheaval and inconvenience (both moving to Canada, then traveling back to visit family)? [2] the "capital" cost of changes (in your case packing up and moving to Canada)? [3] the ongoing costs of your post-change life (cost of flights, differences in taxes, utility bills and other living expenses?

If the IHT on your estate is sufficient to justify making significant changes to your life, then the provision of advice is well beyond what you should seek from a web forum - you need the advice of an experienced tax accountant.

Personally, allowing for one-time and ongoing costs, and the inconvenience of traveling and not being close to family, I think I need to "save" (once you're dead, it isn't your problem) at least £500k before I'd cross the Atlantic leaving family behind.

Yes, I don't bother popping in because there's no one here.

thanks all for the useful observations. Especially that I had not really thought through the implications of 'ongoing presence in the UK' point.

I will be back again one day to get another dream killed.... ;-)

There is a10 year IHT trail. You are still liable for IHT on the UK fir up to 10 years after leaving the UK. That is on worldwide assets. Be careful about double taxation

More details here. The rules changed this year. In situations such as this, it is well worth the money to take professional advice.

https://www.taxadvisermagazine.com/a...%2DUK%20assets.

I have recently sought advice and the quotes I have received are between £5k and £10k. For me I was looking at the implications of moving back.
This is the last response I got.
Please find below a proposed scope for the two-piece advisory:

1. Relocation planning
   1. Assessment of your personal UK income tax exposure in the event of relocation
   2. Review of your current trust structure and any potential UK tax implications in the event of your relocation
   3. Exploration of planning opportunities to mitigate potential double taxation
2. Estate and Inheritance Tax Review
   1. Analysis of your current wills and identification of estate and inheritance tax exposure
   2. Discuss potential planning opportunities to minimise current inheritance tax and estate tax exposure
   3. Evaluation of how your UK relocation could impact your inheritance tax position

The estimated cost for these services is between £8,000 and £10,000, excluding VAT (if applicable). Please note that if there are added complexities, the fee may increase due to the additional time required.

It would be useful to know if that quote is from Bloggs & Co Accounting, or one of the leading firms (Deloitte, KPMG, or E&Y), or somewhere in the middle?

Blick Rothenberg, about 80 employees, not huge, but not one man's and his dog either. I had other quotes of similar price from similar size companies. They seem to charge between £300 to £550 an hour plus VAT
I have only been able to find UK based companies providing this kind of service

Thank you, I was guessing "mid tier", which probably the best place to look for such advice.

I'm not surprised at the £300-£550 range either, that's consistent with rates I remember from years ago when I was still in London.

Some of the fees quoted are totally unecessary. I recently used these people in the UK and they were excellent. I had a one-off, half hour online consultation and they followed up with a written report which all cost me £169. You could have longer if needed (and you paid). If you have your questions prepared in advance and don't ramble on, it works quite well. They matched me with a very good account who was well versed with the UK/Canada tax system. I have since used the accountant for other issues. At the very least, I now know what questions to ask and have a better understanding of my issue.

https://taxscouts.com/

That depends on the complexity of your circumstances and your net worth. For most people you are probably right, but if you have a management/ professional occupation, or especially if self employed with above average income, then you may have things such as inheritance tax and CGT to consider that simply won't affect most people and therefore approaching retirement, fees of £10k could easily be less than ½% of your net worth and not an reasonable fee for personalized advice on taxes and investments covering two tax jurisdictions.