Charles won't pay inheritance tax on what he inherits from the queen..

[justlikethatt]

Are people aware? And think this is OK ?

The estate is only exempt if it goes Sovereign to Sovereign.

Thats why royal wills do that.

The Queen Mother, for example set up trust funds for her great-grandchildren in her lifetime, but when she died everything went to the Queen. As it had when her father died - nothing went to the Queen Mother or Princess Margaret. Just to the Queen.

Sovereign to Sovereign transfers are the only exemption.

This!

I know, in what context, I made my reply. Thanks for your input though. My post still stands.

I find the attitude of "it can't be changed, so why worry" very strange.

The monarchy is an entirely man-made thing.
It isn't permanently set in stone.
Of course the taxation of the monarchy, and even the monarchy itself can be changed.

If things can't be changed, we'd still be living in the dark ages burning women accused of being witches.

Apathy seems to be the biggest barrier to change.

To all the ppl saying inheritance tax is theft - why isn't income tax theft too, then? Or vat?

Inheritance tax and charitable donations have already been taxed at source. Essentially, this is money being taxed twice, hence the claims that some might see this as daylight robbery. In the case of inheritance tax, that's 40% on any estate exceeding £325 K.

VAT is a separate issue, but some have called this the 'poor person's tax'. The rich, it seems, get better value £ for £ than the economically impoverished.

Whatever your views on this, the fact that one family alone in the UK are exempt from this whilst the rest have to fork out and like it is the key point people are objecting to here. As to the counterview that Charles would be paying taxes to himself and this makes no sense, that's frankly bizarre. If it makes no sense to pay taxes to your own treasury, then how can it make more sense to have a system of hereditary sovereignty which makes that possible?

And let's remind ourselves that inheritance tax is a tax on assets/wealth, as distinct from income. Failure to tax wealth at the same level as income has been identified as a main driver of increasing inequality in wealthy countries.

Strangely, I've seen exactly the same arguments applied to VAT. To make the point again: loopholes exist which allow the wealthy in many cases to exploit these laws, and for reasons which are not too difficult to speculate on, our legislators have never made it a priority to close those loopholes. Tax avoidance is legal. Benefit fraud, a criminal offence.

It's clear who the system is set up to benefit, but the point being made upthread is that one law should apply to all. The sovereign is the only person in the country apparently exempt. That is a flaw with the system, not an anomaly in the practice of paying tax to her/his 'own' treasury.

But true

@MarieIVanArkleStinks

It's clear who the system is set up to benefit, but the point being made upthread is that one law should apply to all. The sovereign is the only person in the country apparently exempt. That is a flaw with the system, not an anomaly in the practice of paying tax to her/his 'own' treasury.

You're missing the point of what it means to be sovereign...

They're also exempt, as it wouldn't make sense for them not to be, from matters such as needing a driving license, having to carry a passport etc... no-one seems to mind that they're exempt in these cases...they just seem to get worked up when money is involved. Envy? Jealousy? 🤷‍♂️ I think so

There are legal ways in which any person's estate will pay zero or a minimal amount in Inheritance Tax.
This is why Independent Financial Advisors exist. Along with pensions advice, estate planning plays a big part of their business.
You just have to get advice.

Whilst I don't agree with the Queen's Will remaining private, I imagine all arrangements with her personal finances will have been legally made in case of leaks, etc.

Of course they get 'worked up' when it comes to those things. The idea of any citizen being above the law is an affront to democracy.

Give it a rest with the envy/jealousy thing. It's tedious and shows a chronic lack of capacity for thinking.

The issue here isn't really whether or not people agree with inheritance tax -that's a separate argument.

The issue is that as IHT does exist, should every estate above the threshold pay it (for simplicity, ignoring trusts, deeds and other methods of tax avoidance that are available to everyone) or should there be exemptions based solely on the fact that the inheriting person is a sovereign inheriting personal wealth from their sovereign parent.

I find the attitude of "it can't be changed, so why worry" very strange

maybe because for the vast majority of us it makes zero to littler difference in our daily lives.

@MarieIVanArkleStinks

But that's the whole dam point... they are treated differently, they're the monarch!

In the same way they can't be prosecuted, as what would they do, serve time at their own pleasure?

If the country accepts that it has a monarch (which is has, as we do) then by extrapolation it's accepts they are treated differently...

PS I see I touched a nerve there with jealousy / envy... am wondering with one or both you are ;)

@SurfBox I am increasingly seeing that attitude. If we had all taken that attitude we would still have slavery and women would not be able to vote.

People campaigning have changed much bigger things in society than having a Royal Family.

A defeatist attitude to life is a depressing one where you would pretend you have no power and just have to accept whatever happens to you. As if we were just pieces of driftwood on the sea. I really can't imagine having such a defeatist and depressing attitude towards life.

It's not right that he doesn't and others have to.

That said, I don't think anyone should be paying inheritance tax. The money has already been taxed on salary, property, initial purchase, etc. It would be significantly more useful to tax businesses running in the UK who manage to avoid taxes, and a higher percentage for those earning over a very high threshold.

Plus, dare I say it, using the massive amount of tax money already collected (fourth highest worldwide, I believe) to adequately pay for services rather than lining the pockets of Tory donors and bogus companies.

The sovereign is the only person in the country apparently exempt.

The Duke of Westminster - the richest person in the country - is also exempt. I’m pretty sure he’s far from alone.

In the case of inheritance tax, that's 40% on any estate exceeding £325 K.

It isn’t. If a property’s involved it’s £500k, £1 million for a couple. As most wealthier people’s estates are due to house price inflation, most of it’s virgin money in tax terms and money that hasn’t been earned.

For everyone saying it's not right he's treated differently can anyone else give me just one example of someone who is expected to start their new job so publicly the moment their mother passes...?

I can't think of any other examples... and I certainly wouldn't want to do it. What's so hard for people to comprehend that being sovereign (by very definition) means they have different expectations, rights, privileges, and duties places upon them...?

My mind truly boggles that people don't get that. It's as if everyone is stuck on page 1 of equality and democracy for dummies (having only read half the page and already missed the point!)

Lots of things make very little difference to our lives as individuals but we, as a society, still do them on point of principle because it (whatever it might be) is the right or fair thing to do.

Give us some examples of it.

I should have added: *start their new job the moment so publicly their mother passes whilst already a pensioner!

I'm with you live in a farming community. What's retirement.

Anyone in a family business does not really retire.
The Royal Family is a family business first and foremost. Although most family businesses do not allow you to do very little work in your twenties and thirties because you have children.

This could actually tip us out of recession, improve the exchange rate vs US $, and lower the price of energy.

Well, any change in a relatively obscure tax area that will only affect a small minority of people.

Well that's news to me! I've just found out that income tax and capital gains tax is voluntary.

Will the King pay inheritance tax?

No. Under a 1993 agreement, the “monarch is exempt”, said Daniel Boffey in The Guardian. But as Prince of Wales, he said that he would follow his mother’s example in voluntarily paying income tax and capital gains on the Duchy of Lancaster and on his private investment portfolios.