Inheritance Tax?

[poolger]

We have just had my late father's estate calculated and because of the property it has exceeded the threshold for Inheritance Tax, while it may seem that I am being bitter, what gives the government the right to take this when people pay taxes all their working life and now also in death, they are like grave robbers. As I was sole heir, Gordon Brown gets more from my father than his own grand-children did.

[kempie]

What gives the Government the right?

The electorate.

[Harley]

There is an arguement that Estate Duty is a fair tax. As most of the estate tends to be property and the value has increased with inflation ( and that gain has not been taxed) then the inheritance is a windfall gain to the benefactors.

A relative of mine inherited a tidy sum when his sister died as her house,that she has lived in for 50 years was sold for vastly more than she paid for it.

The flip side can be very unfair. For example when a spouse dies and leaves the survivor with children.If the single parent dies a month later the estate is liable to tax .

[spudqueen]

My brother and I had to pay inheritance tax when our Mother died two and a half years ago. I didn't look on it as MY tax though, rather that tax my Mum owed which we now had to pay out of her estate. House prices have gone up astronomically in the last few years, my parents wouldn't have been able to afford that house recently as house prices have shot up much more than wages. If house prices had risen at a rate more consistent with the rise in wages then my Mums house wouldn't have been worth as much as and we wouldn't have had to pay inheritance tax. Que sera.