Adamski wrote:CliffEdge wrote:I'll be gobsmacked if they reduce IHT.
Well, press reporting that rate is going to be halved to 20%.
Can't see how this will win votes though. The 4% it impacts likely vote Tory anyway.
I've never quite understood why the 4% is so low. I guess for starters because there is no IHT between spouses, IHT is only paid on death of the survivor, so you could say it actually affects 8% (assuming everyone had a spouse). Then there are those very rich who have put in place robust IHT avoidance mechanisms, so perhaps adds 2%. Making IHT affect 10% who will almost certainly be Tory voters who are currently wondering whether to stay home during the next general election. Then it is also a geographically based tax, mainly penalizing English people living in the south of England - that's hardly fair for a start anyway - I don't know how it escapes the equality and race relations act.
OTOH it will put out of business a whole raft of rules, regulations and financial advisers whose whole existence depnds on trying to avoid IHT. It will concentrate efforts on true investment in productive things instead.
What's not to like.