Home / Non-UK residents with UK assets: ways to mitigate UK inheritance tax exposure
15th July 2026
Elaine Roche, Partner
If you live outside of the UK, but own assets in the UK such as property/land, shares, UK bank accounts and other UK assets, inheritance tax (IHT) planning should be an important consideration.
Without effective tax planning, UK inheritance tax could potentially reduce the value of your estate passed on to your family. Depending on the type of assets within your estate, there are a few options available for mitigating inheritance tax exposure.
A key part of inheritance tax planning is understanding how assets are owned.
Most people hold UK assets directly in their own name or through UK-incorporated companies. These structures may have been the most effective when the assets were purchased, but they may now be outdated and could potentially be creating a large inheritance tax bill on your death.
Following changes in the law, it is most often the case that holding UK residential property via a corporate structure leaves you with a much higher tax bill, both now and in the future.
Legal advice is often needed to review your existing arrangement and help you to identify opportunities to simplify ownership, improve succession planning, and potentially mitigate UK tax exposure.
For someone who is not UK long-term resident, holding assets through an offshore holding company may help with mitigating tax exposure and offer flexibility. It can also mean that when the wealth is passed down to your family the wealth is easier to manage through a single holding structure.
The effectiveness of a holding company will depend on a range of factors, including residence status, the type and location of assets. Our team can help you with working out whether an offshore holding company would be the correct move forward for you and your family.
Instead of placing a holding company over UK companies that hold assets, it may be more efficient to move your assets offshore as part of a long-term estate planning strategy. For example, if you have an account with an international bank it could be quite easy to transfer the account to Guernsey/Jersey, which would remove the funds from the UK IHT net.
If you have assets in several jurisdictions, the UK being one of them, moving your UK assets to the one of the other jurisdictions can help reduce the impact on your estate of UK inheritance tax and can also help centralise ownership, simplify administration, and create a clearer framework for future generations.
It is important to remember that transferring assets can have tax and reporting consequences, so any restructuring should be carefully planned and implemented. The specialist team at Kuits can assist with this planning and we are part of an international network of specialist lawyers and advisers who can assist in many jurisdictions.
Inheritance tax planning is most effective when addressed early. Reviewing your UK assets, residence position, and ownership structures can help identify opportunities to protect family wealth and avoid unnecessary tax liabilities in the future.
Even if you already have a plan in place, tax rules continue to evolve, and it is important to review how your assets are held and whether your current arrangements remain suitable for your circumstances and long-term objectives. Our specialist tax and estate planning team can offer advice on whether there are any options available to you to manage this exposure more effectively. Contact us on [email protected], or at 0161 832 3434.
Contributors: Vina Mistry