Expert: Home tax unfair

Tue, 27 Feb 2007

Further concerns are being raised over the fairness of inheritance tax, with fears that many households are being unfairly subjected to the tax which is targeted at homes worth more than £300,000.

Experts at the TaxPayers' Alliance are worried over the number of homes now eligible for inheritance tax, which has exceeded two million properties across the UK according to reports from Halifax.

Rising house prices throughout the country mean that a growing number of households are eligible for the tax, originally designed to target significantly wealthy householders.

Pressures are now mounting for the government to reconsider inheritance tax rules ahead of the next Budget.

"The growth in the number of homes hit by inheritance tax is astonishing, and shows just how far Gordon Brown will go to squeeze ordinary families," commented Corin Taylor, head of research at the TaxPayers' Alliance.

"Ordinary people cannot afford the fancy accountants and tax lawyers needed to minimise their inheritance tax bills so they are hit for six when they lose a loved one. This is unfair and must stop.”

It is estimated by Halifax that some 4.3 million homes in the UK could be eligible for inheritance tax by 2020 if the threshold is increased in line with retail price inflation.


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