What are the Tories thinking with insane £1,000,000 inheritance tax threshold proposal for family homes?

[Figmentofmyimagination]

It's almost as if they have completely lost their way.

Miriamin it's naked self interest.

Hang on a minute. Single parents (and unmarried couples?) are definitely the losers with inheritance tax, but even in the worst case, young children with a single parent who died would at least inherit £325,000 tax free under the current regime, plus 60% of the rest of the estate value, and would not be able to live alone anyway, so would be likely to move even without the tax...?

Whereas if a married couple have young children at primary school and one dies, there is no inheritance tax to pay anyway, whatever size house they have.

Inheritance tax is a fudge, yes, but it's also a recognition that few people have large assets at death having been completely self-made - they have made that money in a stable society with a decent standard of living, rule of law, publicly available education and health, trading standards, all the rest of it. (Plus a series of outlandish house price booms). All that has to be paid for.

The ' Tory' high command or 'Us' as some people call them, do not have £1millon pound estates (more Like £20 Millon plus) so will people stop saying its to keep the wealth in the hands of 'US'. A milon pound threshold is just what a 'HARDWORKING' local family business man/woman might leave in their will after 30-40 years of graft. paying Council Tax/ Corporation Tax/ National Insurance contributing probably 10 times that to the country in payments.

I don't know why some pp's feel that this threshold is too high and only benefitting the elite or well off.
If you live in London it is pretty standard that your house/flat is worth 1million or more.
I hope the threshold increases even more as many of dp's family live in London in houses already hurtling towards 2million.
Our own flat in London (worth a lot less than 1million) is increasing in value by over 10k a year.
We're not the elite living it up, rather people working extremely hard (like many people countrywide) trying desperately to afford homes of an adequate size for our families whilst trying to stay living close to family members.

We are talking about people who are inheriting hundreds of thousands of pounds. Is it so very awful that such fortunate people should contribute a little of this windfall to the state?

So much concern about being forced to sell the home of a dead parent, and yet so little concern about those who have been forced out of their homes by the bedroom tax while they're still alive! Double standards? You bet!!

He never inherited a penny in his life Gently. He put it down to being TT, never taking foreign holidays and not running a car.

Consequently he was able to save.

Is it so very awful that such fortunate people should contribute a little of this windfall to the state?

But it's not a windfall. It's their family property which they already own.

Yes it is total double standards. And total self interest. If you are inheriting £500,000 as an inheritance, that is a LOT of money. Why should you not pay some tax on that?

Oh I agree it's total self interest. How else should I use my vote if not to benefit myself and my family?

Toby - It is the property of the person who owns it. If you inherit, it was not your property to start with. Also as many people defending this have said, many of those people have such expensive properties because houses have risen so dramatically in price. So it is luck that they have an expensive property in the first place.

If you live in London it is pretty standard that your house/flat is worth 1million or more.

Not according to the Land Registry in February 2015, mountain. The average price in most boroughs is much, much lower.

Average house price in London is £516,000 so it's not THAT standard.

I see why they have done it now, I thought Osborne had taken leave of his senses this morning but clearly it is going to get a big round of applause.

Of course it's a windfall toby.

I am fortunate to have parents who will be able to leave me an inheritance. It is not my money. I have not earned it. I do not deserve it any more than those people who are not fortunate enough to have wealthy parents.

I see why they have done it now, I thought Osborne had taken leave of his senses this morning but clearly it is going to get a big round of applause.

TBH I'm amazed that there are people who are not applauding it.

I do not deserve it any more than those people who are not fortunate enough to have wealthy parents.

On that point Kampeki we are going to have to agree to differ.

Kampeki

Someone on benefits has no right to a home bigger than they need. I feel the bedroom tax has a lot of problems, but the fundermental idea of people having a house the size they need is not unfair. If you want a house bigger than you need then you should pay for it yourself.

The threshold for inheritance tax has not been raised for years. I feel that thresholds for tax should be raised in line with inflation.

People should be able to decide what happens to their money after death. Your wealthy parents have every right to leave the money to the dogs home.

Mountain - the institute for fiscal studies says that the threshold increase will only benefit a small number of wealthy people.

As far as flats in London go- my MIL died recently, her flat - in London - is apparently worth about £200k. Which will almost but not quite cover the care home fees (she had Alzheimer's). So, no, it's not 'standard' for a flat in London to be worth £1m (a colleague who has recently retired and is relocating to IOM is also selling his London flat - other side of London - for about £200k too).

I feel that thresholds for tax should be raised in line with inflation.

So do we all, but no political party, left, right or centre has seen fit to do it yet.

Really, toby? You are surprised that people aren't applauding tax cuts for people inheriting hundreds of thousands of pounds when the Tories are proposing a further £12billion in welfare cuts? When we already have hundreds of thousands of people depending on food banks for their next meal? You genuinely can't understand why people might not be cheering for joy at this announcement?

If we didn't need taxes to fund public services I would be in favour of abolishing the inheritance tax but as we do need taxes its only fair that the wealthy pay their share. I would increase the threshold to £500k to reflect rising house prices but not £1 million. It just goes to show that for all David Cameron's attempts to appear like one of us he is far from it. Looking at this positively a lot more people will now be voting against the government.

We are all obsessed by paying tax in the UK, and I'm always surprised on MN how many people think we should be paying more.
Germany has much higher inheritance tax thresholds than we do, and, if my memory serves me correctly, does not even include property so almost no inheritance tax is paid in Germany. They seem to manage their economy pretty well.

On that point Kampeki we are going to have to agree to differ.

So what have you done to "deserve" an inheritance, then, toby? Why do you think you're more deserving than the next person, whose parents aren't so wealthy?

Toby - Well at least you are honest. Personally I don't vote for self interest. I want a just society. I don't rent a house, but I think the bedroom tax is wrong.

The current tax threshold is £325k, which can be transferred for married couples, so currently, when a person dies, they can transfer their £325k allowance to their spouse, meaning a widow or widower can leave £650k, which is already more than £500k.
The £1m proposal is the joint allowance.