IHTM42990 | Employee benefit trusts: associated issues: newspaper trusts

Where shares in a newspaper publishing company, or a newspaper holding company are the only or principal assets in the settlement, IHTA84/S86 is applied to the trust by IHTA84/S87(1) as if newspaper publishing companies were included among the persons within IHTA84/S86(1)(a) and (b).

IHTA84/S87(3) defines the terms ‘newspaper company’ and ‘newspaper holding company’ and specifies the circumstances in which shares are to be treated as ‘principal property comprised in the settlement’.

Where the conditions are satisfied, you should apply the instructions that apply to employee benefit trusts to newspaper trusts in exactly the same way - charges to and exemptions from Inheritance Tax apply as outlined in the instructions.

No exemption for transfer from discretionary trust to newspaper trust

HMRC’s view is that IHTA84/S75 does not apply to transfers from discretionary trusts to newspaper trusts. The title at IHTA84/S75 refers to employee trusts only while IHTA84/S72 refers to both employee and newspaper trusts.

More importantly, IHTA84/S75 uses the words ‘held on trusts of the description specified in S86(1)’ whilst IHTA/S72 uses the words ‘property to which S86 applies.’ The words at IHTA84/S72 clearly cover newspaper trusts, but on the face of it those at IHTA/S75 do not. In any case it is unlikely that a newspaper trust would satisfy all the conditions in IHTA84/S75(2).