A friend of mine has said that it is possible for a parent to transfer stocks and shares to a daughter free of charge, including stamp duty. He says that you have to complete a stock transfer form, stating that this is a gift, and send it to the registrar of the company concerned. Would this work and does it depend on the amount not exceeding the £3,000 annual exemption on gifts that one can make without incurring any potential inheritance tax (IHT) liability?
K. B., Ickenham, Middlesex
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Yes, this would work, says David Kilshaw, a partner at KPMG, the accountant. You can hand over shares to your daughter using the method you describe and there will be no stamp duty or broker’s commission to pay.
You are also correct in thinking that you can give away assets totalling £3,000 annually without incurring any IHT liabiity. However, Mr Kilshaw adds that when you make a transfer of this kind it counts as a disposal on your part for capital gains tax (CGT) purposes. So if your total gains in a year exceed the current threshold of £8,500 you will incur a CGT bill.
My husband is 86 and I am 71. We own our own house and our income is approximately £15,000 a year. I have a mini-Isa with the Royal Liver Assurance company, into which I pay £100 a month. We also have about £4,000 earning a very small amount of interest in a savings account. Where could we invest £2,000 of this for a better return?
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H. L., Wirral, Merseyside
A spokeswoman for AWD Chase de Vere, the independent financial adviser, says that if you want a good rate on an easy access account, you could look at Anglo Irish Bank, which is paying 4.8 per cent gross on sums of £500 or more. The account can be operated by post or by phone.
If you have access to the internet, you can obtain a rate of 5.15 per cent on sums of £1 upwards with Alliance & Leicester’s Online Saver account, though this contains an introductory bonus of 0.9 percentage points, which drops away after June.
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A few years ago I purchased £500 of Tadpole Technology shares. This was my first and only venture into stocks and shares and in recent years I noted that the price was falling rapidly. As a novice, I didn’t know what to do and now I can’t find them quoted anywhere. Can you help me?
H. K., Ruislip, Middlesex
We can help, but there’s both good and bad news. The good news is that the shares have not disappeared altogether. They are still quoted on the Stock Exchange and you can follow their price in the Business pages of The Times.
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The bad news is that they are trading at just 3p a share, which may be considerably less than you paid if you bought during the technology boom in the late 1990s.
You can sell the shares by instructing a stockbroker, though the cost of commission is likely to be at least £10. The Share Centre (0800 800008) offers one of the cheapest deals at £7.50 for each sale, whether you hold your shares in certificated or paperless form.
MARK ATHERTON