The name’s bond...

KEY POINTS

• The basic structure of an investment bond.
• Calculating top slicing relief under ITTOIA 2005 s 535.
• Dealing with segmented investment bonds.
• Tax charges arising from the loss of personal allowances.
• Mitigating higher rate tax charges.

While taking my 12-year-old son and his friend to the new James Bond movie recently I couldn’t help but wonder (as usual) at the improbable plot turns that the writer had thought up.

I had had a similar feeling earlier in the day when giving a lecture on offshore bonds to one of my stockbroking clients in particular when discussing all the various permutations that exist when investment bonds are encashed.

What sort of vivid imagination could produce such legislation complete with so many tax traps for the unwary?

These issues not only have to be understood by wealth managers but also by anyone preparing tax returns.

This article will focus on some of the particular tax problems...