Inheritance tax to be halved

[WildWhippet]

The government intends on having the rate of inheritance tax in the autumn statement.

Is this a good move? Will it encourage you to vote for the Conservative Party?

Which Labour politician was it who said something like how awful it was that half our children had less than average qualifications????

Only if they kept the rule where assets are re-based at market value at time of death for CGT - I'd expect them to scrap that rule if they scrapped IHT! If they scrapped that, and CGT was based on original cost when the deceased purchased it, there'd be CGT to pay on ultimate sale, rather than IHT on inheritance. Much fairer!

My recollection is it was George W. Bush, about UK kids.

The fact of statistical distribution is a very good filter for the dim. It is an undeniable fact, but some people can get very angry if you mention it. Probably best avoided. However occasionally you can meet someone who can appreciate the nuances involved.

They will be saving this carrot for their manifesto.

My point was that in some cases there is no “ultimate sale”: in some families assets get handed on from generation to generation indefinitely.

In many cases that's happening anyway. Why do you think that so many millionaires are buying up agricultural land despite having no interest in farming? At least Clarkson decided to actually try it when his tenant retired. Putting CGT back to the old rules where it was taxed at the same rates as income (less indexation) and not rebasing it at death will result in billions extra for the Exchequer. Charging it instead of IHT will remove the need for exemptions and again improve the tax income.

None of them. Nice try at painting a "Labour politician" as stupid without evidence, though.

Biter bit.

Pensions are not part of your estate.

The problem with putting all your wealth into a pension is there’s a £60k annual limit and you need to have relevant earnings to contribute this amount into a pension.

And then you need to aim to die before your 75th birthday! That would be the most tax efficient.