Re: Inheritance tax

Au wrote:
In article <XNIKf.32781$Fy4.31424@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Stephen Glynn <stephen.glynn@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Historically, it was introduced early in the C20th, so whoever is to
blame for it, it isn't Labour.

I can't find out who put this disgusting tax into law, but that doesn't
mean that it should still exist in this day and age.

It was introduced by Lloyd George's Liberal party post-WWI and was
directly aimed at the inherited wealth of the aristocracy. That's why
so many stately homes were donated to the National Trust.

More to the point, it's pretty much a voluntary tax. Anyone who's
bothered their estate may be liable has only to consult a decent
solicitor or accountant in order to minimise it or avoid it altogether.

Well no. You have to sign your property to your children, relinquishing
all your rights to it, and you have to live for 7 years before the property
will be exempted from tax.

If you die during the 7 years, your children will still be forced out of
"your" house and have to sell the house to pay the tax, meanwhile making
them homeless, but that's okay for a 10 year old - they can cope with all
that I'm sure.

After 7 years, whilst the property is exempted from inheritance tax, you as
a parent will have to pay a "reasonable" market rate rent for the property,
as you are not the owner anymore but still living in it. And of course, the
government want some of that rent money. Your child cannot set a rate of
£1 rent per year for their parents to pay.

There are other ways around it; eg take out a life insurance policy
that pays out on death, with your children as beneficiaries. The
proceeds can then be used to pay off your IHT liabilities.

The point, however, is that a tax aimed at, say, the richest 1 per cent
of the population is catching an ever-increasing number of people
because of rising property prices. But it also means more money for
lawyers as people are forced to find ever-more convoluted ways as the
govt plugs the loopholes.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: anyone know any good truck driver newsgroups?
    ... Besides, if I did, like you, harden my heart to the world around me, those two would in fact soon pass away, and guess who'd have to heal my wife's grief, who'd have to pay for the burials and settle their outstanding bills. ... I worked in the field for many years; I have been CFO of a Texas corporation auto dealership; I operated my own bookkeeping and tax service for six years. ... As to the wife's substantial earnings: if you have used even a nickel of it for living expenses and/or investments, then this alone negates your entire argument; that anyone can become a millionaire in a few years on even a trucker's earnings. ...
    (misc.transport.trucking)
  • TURMEL: Brantford Chamber of Commerce Survey
    ... Bank of Canada which does not need to pay interest to any ... interest on the mortgage debt for his practice. ... municipalities collect tax up front, ...
    (sci.econ)
  • Re: Renting out primary residence
    ... >If I were to rent out my primary UK residence for 1 year (I have no other ... >tax - do the people renting it from me pay it - and what about other bills? ... Tenant pays: ... You pay: ...
    (uk.finance)
  • Re: The poor rich work harder
    ... wage earners pay half the taxes but make only a third of the income. ... Think a tax system which ignores the individuals is fair, ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Re: Fairtax: how does this math work out?
    ... As> I understand it, they want to get rid of the income tax altogether, and> raise the sales tax on items to 23%. ... They argue that low income, medium income, and high> income families will all benefit from lower taxation, while the> government will be able to increase the revenue it brings in from> taxation. ... If he doesn't pay that income tax, but instead goes broke by spending every single penny of that 30 million in the economy, he would still end up contributing 5.3 million dollars less to the government than he would under the income tax system. ... The answer is that it would appear that the wealthy would pay less than they do now in taxes. ...
    (misc.taxes)