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Posted Sun, 06 Oct 2024 16:41:59 GMT by Megsley
Long story as short as possible. My step-father-in-law died last year, he and his wife owned a home in Venezuala that they had been trying to sell at the time of his death. Before he passed away, he and my mother-in-law had told and agreed with my sister-in-law that should the house in Venezuela sell, that the proceeds should be divided between my sister-in-law and her three siblings (including my husband), and that this should be treated as a gift. The house has finally sold, and my sister-in-law has LPA for my mother-in-law as she has dementia. Sister-in-law now make all financial and health decisions for mother-in-law. The house sold at a loss. Sister-in-law wants to fulfill the wishes of my mother-in-law by dividing the house sale in four and distributing to the the siblings, including my husband, essentially as a gift from my mother-in-law as was agreed before my mother-in-law was found legally unable to make her own decisions. (The house in Venezuela is not included in my mother-in-law's will.) The question is, assuming this money can be legally gifted to us, do we have any tax liability on it? From what I've read, they should be able to gift it to us with no tax liability, unless my mother in law passes way in the next 7 years. In which case there may be some tax liability if the total my husband inherits including the gift is over £325K, which it won't be. Additional information, because the money will be being transferred directly to us, it will be from a bank account in Martinique. Not sure if this would have any impact. Thanks for any advice!
Posted Mon, 14 Oct 2024 09:26:57 GMT by HMRC Admin 32 Response
Hi,
There are generally no Income Tax implications on the giving of or receipt of a cash gift unless the cash gift generates interest or dividends. These would then potentially be subject to tax. Further guidance can be found here Tax on savings interest:
Tax on savings interest
Tax on dividends guidance can be found here:
Tax on dividends
The rules on giving gifts can be found here:
How Inheritance Tax works: thresholds, rules and allowances: Rules on giving gifts
You may also want to review the guidance at:
How Inheritance Tax works: thresholds, rules and allowances: Overview 
Thank you.

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