We are very fortunate that my brother who lives abroad wants to offer us a house in Kent. Both my wife and I are first time buyers. The property is worth around £500,000 and will be registered in my wife’s name. Would it be more appropriate for my brother to wire the purchase price and stamp duty land tax to the conveyancing solicitor directly or transfer the money to my personal bank account for me to pay the solicitor subsequently?

Arthur Weller replies:
From a tax perspective, it makes no difference. What is happening here is that your brother is paying for a house for you. Since he is ‘meeting a pecuniary liability’ of yours, either way he is gifting you £500,000. If he is not UK domiciled and not UK resident the normal inheritance tax (IHT) rules do not apply to him (assuming he has no UK assets, including the gifted cash), and so the fact that this is a gift to you of £500,000 is irrelevant for UK IHT purposes.