Should inheritance tax be scrapped?

Former Member

DiamondGeezer wrote:

Maybe cos that money is being taxed TWICE?

to keep the numbers simple use your 40% example

you earn £10,000 lets say and pay 40% tax

leaves you with £6,000

You die and leave that to your kids

and pay another 40%

it's now worth £3600


Seems like a tax on death to me. And dying these days is pretty expensive as it is with burial costs.

except lets say that the threshold was £5000. So in fact your kids are only taxed on the 1000 quid over the threshold. And once again, lets return to realistic numbers where we can imagine that 5000, is in fact 500000 and a shed load of cash

What we need, once again, is not to ditch inherritance tax, but to raise the threshold. I'd like the record to show that I am in the bracket of people who will have to pay tax, because two normal families joined and got a really big, and now expensive house. I don't think that's fair, because we're not rich, we sold two suburban homes to get this one. Inherritance tax however, does make sense, it's not like we can keep this place anyway, especially after it's been carved up in half and then into quarters and eigths... It's just the threshold needs to go up

Former Member

LeedsLad wrote:

If it only hit the richest no-one would be complaining.

It`s highly probable that "the richest" to whom you refer would complain.

Empathise for a moment and ask yourself : " Would I complain if someone mugged me ?"

Former Member

My two cents worth:

I'm sure inheritance tax may well have been ostensibly introduced as a method of wealth circulation, but like most taxes it's just another insulting method of parting the public from their cash, the national lottery being another cracking example.

I’m not against paying taxes. I’d happily pay more income tax to cut out all the bollocks taxes.

The only people that inheritance tax hits is people who don’t expect it. You don’t need a team of lawyers to get round it.

Clicky here

Former Member

Man Of Kent wrote:

But it's isn't "free" money now, is it?

Depends on whose perspective you look at it from.

Your children haven't worked for it, you have.

Why is income tax- taxing labour- acceptable, but taxing windfalls not?

I'd love no tax for all, but that's not realistic, and inheritance tax is certainly far less immoral than many other forms of taxation.

Who exactly suffers from inheritance tax? The dead person is taxed, and they're not in a position to miss it.

Former Member

You're missing the fact that the tax is failing to serve the purpose for which it was originally intended - to raise money by taxing the super-rich and stopping their children making millions without the government getting a look-in edgeways.

The trouble is it's not taxing the super rich like it should be - or the rich, it's taxing the average middle-class and high-earning working-class people who barely get anything out of the government but pay more than everyone else.

Former Member

So what we've already suggested to deal with the fact that inherritance tax hasn't risen with inflation is to raise the threshold. Which will solve the problem won't it?

Former Member

Inheritance tax is an example of the very worst kind of class bigotry and backward interfering statist socialism. It's about time the UK is brought into line with other developed countries; Canada, Sweden and New Zealand do not have the tax and it looks like the US and Australia may follow.

Supporters of inheritance tax on this thread seem unable to present their argument without resorting to childish class stereotypes and a need to somehow punish the rich.

Meanwhile others have no objection to inheritance tax if it only targets the rich, this being the view held by many of those now affected by inheritance tax because of the tax threshold not keeping up with house price inflation.

However, inheritance tax, or more accurately the death tax regardless of who it affects is simply wrong. Someone pays income tax on their earnings and stamp duty on their house; a further tax is deeply unfair. Further, abolishing inheritance tax would help younger people by transferring assets from older generations. And as has already been said inheritance tax rarely even affects the very rich, indeed many of the 'targets' of this tax if they have the time to make preparations avoid it. Those affected the most meanwhile are the families who have the misfortune to be bereaved unexpectedly.

Former Member

Disillusioned wrote:

Inheritance tax is an example of the very worst kind of class bigotry and backward interfering statist socialism. It's about time the UK is brought into line with other developed countries; Canada, Sweden and New Zealand do not have the tax and it looks like the US and Australia may follow.

Supporters of inheritance tax on this thread seem unable to present their argument without resorting to childish class stereotypes and a need to somehow punish the rich.

Meanwhile others have no objection to inheritance tax if it only targets the rich, this being the view held by many of those now affected by inheritance tax because of the tax threshold not keeping up with house price inflation.

However, inheritance tax, or more accurately the death tax regardless of who it affects is simply wrong. Someone pays income tax on their earnings and stamp duty on their house; a further tax is deeply unfair. Further, abolishing inheritance tax would help younger people by transferring assets from older generations. And as has already been said inheritance tax rarely even affects the very rich, indeed many of the 'targets' of this tax if they have the time to make preparations avoid it. Those affected the most meanwhile are the families who have the misfortune to be bereaved unexpectedly.

Don't get me wrong, in principle I agree that it isn't fair at all.

But we've got to be pragmatic - for half a loaf is better than none.

I think George Osborne was being quite sensible ealier this week when he said that he would like to reduce/reform/scrap it but that it would be improper for him to commit to anything at this point.

I'm convinced it will disappear eventually, but it'll take time.