The investment research company founded by Nigel Farage has offered its members a guide on how to avoid inheritance tax (IHT) – if they pay a £250 annual membership.
A letter signed by the former UKIP MEP offers readers “eight ways to (legally) thwart the tax man” over money that is passed onto their children.
The guide is only offered as a “bonus free gift” for those who sign up for a year’s membership to The Fleet Street Letter, a private news service for City insiders founded in 1938, which costs £250.
The Letter was recently bought by Southbank Investment Research, which also publishes Farage’s financial newsletter Fortune and Freedom. Its staff included Lord William Rees-Mogg, father of pro-Brexit MP Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and former Conservative Party candidate Annunziata Rees-Mogg.
“You can legally avoid a huge amount of IHT liability and let those you wish to benefit most from your legacy keep what’s rightfully theirs,” an article introducing the guide on Southbank Research’s website states.
“With some sound planning, inheritance tax is largely a voluntary tax.
“You’ll learn methods of side stepping inheritance tax including gifts, transfers, trusts and various other tax breaks HMRC allows.”
There are several ways to legitimately avoid IHT, such as using life insurance policies which can pay out a tax-free lump sum when you die, or taking out equity release mortgages and gifting the money to children. Using such products is usually not recommended without the advice of a financial adviser, however.
After stepping away from politics, Mr Farage started giving financial advice – much of it through Fortune and Freedom – that promised to help readers “take back control of your money“. His newsletters and podcasts boast “deep insights” to tell you “what’s really happening in the financial markets”.
However, Bloomberg found that when a simulated £100,000 was invested into models developed by Mr Farage and Rob Marstrand, a former UBS banker, it was only worth £93,300 after two years. If it was put into a FTSE All-Share tracker fund, the investment would have been worth about £118,000.
Mr Farage recently claimed his bank account was unfairly shut down by private bank Coutts – owned by NatWest Group – because it did not agree with his political views.
Fortune and Freedom, and Southbank Investment Research, were approached for comment.
