Will US gifts trigger UK tax bills? I'm British and my husband is American. He is keen to take advantage of the current US gift tax exemption before it expires, but we are concerned about the impact of any US-orientated financial planning in a UK context. What would the best options be for us? Penelope Williams, a partner at law firm Withers, says you are right to be concerned. The UK and the US are two nations with similar, but different tax laws and navigating the treacherous waters of transatlantic tax planning can be a white-knuckle experience. Many Americans are putting assets into trust to take advantage of the current $5.12m gift tax exemption due to expire on December 31. However, if your husband has been in the UK a long time - over 15 years - he could find that setting up a trust triggers a UK inheritance tax (IHT) bill at 20 per cent of the value of the gift - with an additional charge if he dies within seven years. In that case he might consider a straightforward gift to your children. This would only trigger UK inheritance tax if he died within seven years of the gift. Another trap: if the assets being gifted have increased in value since he acquired them, the gift - whether in trust or outright to the children - might attract UK capital gains tax in addition to any up front or potential UK IHT. If your children are young, or if you might need access to these assets in the future, you might not want to pass them outright to the children now. One option is to consider a family limited partnership (FLP) as an alternative vehicle to a trust. An FLP is a fairly sophisticated planning vehicle through which assets can be held in a protective regime for the long-term benefit of family members. A simpler solution is an outright gift to you. Of course you lose the benefit of moving assets down a generation but you gain more flexibility for future planning. You'll be able to make gifts to the children later relying upon the UK seven-year rule, and you won't be hampered by your husband's US lifetime gift exemption which is due to be reduced to $1m with effect from January 1 2013. This means that any assets remaining in your estate are ultimately exposed to UK inheritance tax at 40 per cent compared with a potential rate of 55 per cent in the US. Also, a gift from your husband to you will not attract IHT or capital gains tax in the UK. From the US perspective gifts from an American to his non-US citizen spouse are only outside the scope of US gift tax if they are within certain limits - under $139,000 in 2012. Any amount over that limit will absorb all or part of your husband's lifetime gift exemption. If the gift is made before the end of 2012 that lifetime gift exemption is $5.12m. But at midnight on December 31 2012 the lifetime gift exemption shrinks to $1m and your husband's opportunity to give away the additional $4.12m tax free is lost. Your family home could be a good asset to use here. If your husband gifts his interest to you there are two potentially significant tax savings. First any gain on the sale of the property will not then be taxable in his hands in the US (which could otherwise be the case); and secondly a potential exposure to double tax - for example, his share of the house being subject to US estate tax on his death and UK inheritance tax on your death - could be avoided. So I'm afraid the lawyer's answer is that the best option really does depend on all the facts: the one element of certainty being that the rules are about to change. Euro swings create a problem I have a holiday home in France that I've owned for ten years. I've decided to sell the property, but I'm concerned that the euro situation could dramatically affect the amount of money I get from a sale. I'm expecting to sell for €400,000 and that was the equivalent of about £323,000 in July, £315,000 in August and now it's moved back up to about £326,000. How can I avoid losing money on the sale? Elisabeth Dobson head of the private client desk at foreign exchange company World First says the euro crisis has presented many people with a real challenge when it comes to making large currency transfers for property sales. As you are obviously well aware, the exchange rates can change significantly in a relatively short period of time, dramatically affecting the amount of money you end up with. If you are concerned that currency fluctuations might affect your property sale and want to take action ahead of time, you can fix the exchange rate with what's known as a Forward Contract for up to three years. If you are looking for more flexibility you can use a Currency Option. Like a forward contract, these products allow you to fix your worst case rate in advance, but they also allow you to receive the upside profit if the rates move in your favour in the lead-up to the completion date. You can keep your options open. One way to do this is by using a currency specialist. You will also tend to get a better exchange rate when you convert your money than you would if you went to a bank. Typically you will be able to make the transaction take place much faster too, in just a few hours. Be sure to choose an FSA authorised company so you know your money will be in safe hands and you can access secure products to manage your transfer effectively.