Time to reform inheritance tax, think tank claims

Inheritance tax should be replaced with a progressive capital receipts tax, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has claimed, in news which could be of interest to those with private wealth.

The existing system should be abolished because of public hostility and the fact that revenues to the Treasury are falling, it stated.

A new set of arrangements, which could include a 20 per cent tax on gifts between £150,000 and £300,000, 30 per cent on those between £300,000 and £450,000 and 40 per cent for anything above that would generate an extra £1 billion in receipts, the body continued.

On top of that, the new regime would take steps to reducing wealth inequality and promoting a wider distribution of assets, it argued.

Nick Pearce, IPPR director, said the current "unpopular" inheritance tax only raises £2.2 billion and it is time for reform.

Projected increases in revenue to the treasury could help pay for free nursery education, he said, adding: "This would be the best way of passing on opportunity, not privilege, from one generation to the next."

The IPPR was founded in 1988 by Lord Hollick as an "independent progressive think tank".
 ADNFCR-2318-ID-800316958-ADNFCR