Experts dismiss Tory push to scrap inheritance tax
The Independent|June 02, 2023
Calls by senior Tories to abolish inheritance tax have been met with scepticism from senior economists and tax experts.
SOPHIE WINGATE
Experts dismiss Tory push to scrap inheritance tax

More than 50 Conservative MPs, including former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, have urged prime minister Rishi Sunak and chancellor Jeremy Hunt to scrap the tax, according to the Daily Telegraph.

But Paul Johnson, head of the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies, said the inheritance tax (IHT) should instead be overhauled, as it tends to be easier to avoid for the very rich with broadly-based wealth than for those with only one asset.

He said: “Rather than scrapping IHT we urgently need to reform it. It is genuinely unfair. The very wealthy pay an average rate half, or less, that paid by the moderately wealthy. If all you leave is the family house it’s hard to avoid. If you have millions it is absurdly easy to avoid.”

This story is from the June 02, 2023 edition of The Independent.

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