It is a common human trait to get into things with no idea of how we are going to get out of them. Sadly, in my experience, this is as true of property investors as it is of anyone else. There are many successful property investors who have built up large property portfolios without ever giving any serious thought to what they are eventually going to do with them.

But planning your exit in advance can make an enormous difference to the amount of after-tax wealth that you take with you into retirement, or which you can eventually pass on to your heirs.

From a tax perspective, the main issue to be considered is usually Capital Gains Tax ('CGT'), although Inheritance Tax is also an issue for many. In this article, I am going to look at some of the strategies available to reduce or avoid the impact of these taxes for property investors.

Generally speaking, however, there is seldom one single 'magic answer' which completely solves the problem and it is often necessary to look at a combination of two or more different strategies. Every property investor's position is unique and will therefore require a unique solution to produce the best result.