To think scrapping inheritance tax would not be popular with voters

[Lanadelday]

I'd say I can't believe the conservatives are considering it, but nothing surprises me any more that they do. But AIBU to think most people wouldn't back this anyway- I can't see it being a big vote winner and don't think they really get that voters are sick of all the inequality and so many people including kids and elderly, living in poverty, not wanting to make it worse.

When you have doctors, teachers, etc striking over pay cuts & conditions I think it sends the wrong message to scrap IHT.

But a lot of those striking probably aren't going to vote Tory, whereas a lot of people who think they might gain from IHT being scrapped probably are.

Which is the real calculation going on here. I think people are making the mistake of trying to make sense of it economically. And unless you have been asleep these past 13 years, you may have noticed the Tory definition of "sensible" in the phrase "sensible economic policies" may not be the one you are working from with your rather proletarian dictionary.

Nah, telling people they'd inherit even more from their relatives or would be able to pass all their significant wealth down without any of it being used to potentially benefit people less fortunate will be a massive vote winner.

And once you're elected, you can forget about it anyway.

I'm obviously an oddball as my parents & in-laws have estates over 1m but I'm not bothered about losing some 🤷🏻‍♀️

I am not sure it’s “selfish” to want to leave money to your children. I’m particularly anxious to do so for my DS, who has ASD and is likely to find it difficult to amass capital of his own. Is that selfish? It seems to me I would be a monster if I didn’t want to leave him well provided for.

But it's fine to leave money to your children, nobody is saying otherwise. Why not leave them £325,000 each, if you've got it, and then the majority of everything else over that. So you can leave them hundreds of thousands per child with no inheritance tax. Most people on here defending it don't have those sorts of sums to leave, and are defending abolishing it when that will only benefit very rich people. The Tories seem still able to hoodwink people, meantime children in our country are cold and hungry. But the super rich shout the loudest.

Rather than scrapping IHT, you could make it 100% with no threshold. After all, if you can't spend it in your lifetime, why should you get to give it away when you are dead and it belongs to no one ?

Oh not again. 😱

Because people want to give what they have to their children, and not be subject to inheritance tax. It’s as simple as that, really.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t agree with that, or don’t understand it, that’s still going to be the drive for a lot of people. As such, those that can will employ methods to avoid it, and support it being scrapped.

and again, if it does indeed disincentivize growth, it may very well be losing the country more money than is being gained by the revenue. There is a reason why emerging economies have minimal or no iht, and adopt competitive tax policies to attract wealth. Yes, the rich do hold a lot of cards, like it or not, and they will go to countries offering them a better deal. It’s already happening, with there being a net outflow of millionaires. Not wanting to admit this is a problem doesn’t make it any less of one.

Because people want

In grown up land people can't always get what they want.

I think in some circumstances it is cruel , such as if elderly siblings share a home and one dies, inheritance tax is due and so in most cases the house has to be sold. Also if parents both die their children will have to pay it which in some cases again means selling the family home.

I might be wrong but I don’t believe any other country has a rate as high as Britain’s that kicks in at a relatively low level. Personally I think a rate of 20% would be fairer, 40% is really quite high. But I do agree that now is not the time.

There is a reason why emerging economies have minimal or no iht, and adopt competitive tax policies to attract wealth. Yes, the rich do hold a lot of cards, like it or not, and they will go to countries offering them a better deal. It’s already happening, with there being a net outflow of millionaires. Not wanting to admit this is a problem doesn’t make it any less of one.

I don't think scrapping IHT will make the global elite stay in the UK, they aren't the ones paying the tax currently.

Well if they vote for it to be scrapped they will.

If it's not selfish to not want to pay tax on money left to your kids, why is it considered selfish to not want to pay tax on income ?

I’m not talking about the global elite, not solely anyway. I’m talking about the common or garden wealthy as well. There is a net outflow, and while inheritance tax isn’t the only cause of this, it doesn’t help matters.

Of course they can. They can vote for a party that will scrap it, or they can go elsewhere to a country where they’re not subject to it.

You were talking about millionaires leaving the country? The average person who ends up with a IHT bill on their estate today is an older person with a house that has gone up in value. They aren't likely to emigrate.

There is a net outflow. I have no idea what their ages are, but plenty of wealthy people are indeed leaving.

That isn’t to say all will, of course not, but what happens when that well quickly runs dry?

Of course they can. They can vote for a party that will scrap it, or they can go elsewhere to a country where they’re not subject to it.

Slightly disingenuous, no ? You can only vote for a party that has that policy. And if the don't get enough votes, you don't get.

You can, of course, leave the country. Or rather you may be able to. However you'd need to find a country that suits. Rwanda has no inheritance tax at all. Maybe some folk here should consider a move ?

You were talking about millionaires leaving the country?

You mean like Phil Collins if Labour won the 1997 general election ?

There is a net outflow. I have no idea what their ages are, but plenty of wealthy people are indeed leaving

I haven't disagreed that wealthy people are leaving? I just said I don't think scrapping IHT will make them stay & Bob who died & triggered IHT on his Hackney house that he bought cheap isn't likely to emigrate to avoid this future tax.

That isn’t to say all will, of course not, but what happens when that well quickly runs dry?

What happens when more health care staff go abroad for better salaries & quality of life?

Plus we aren't getting so many healthcare staff from the EU as many are better of staying where they are.

First we need the wealth to pay them. Check out lower taxes in Ireland and US multinationals moving in giving them great tax receipts

If people didn’t get so jumpy about taxing the rich we could have that

I'm pretty sure Ireland has a higher IHT burden than the UK...