Controversy
Inheritance Tax is an emotive tax which seems to be widely disliked by the general public as it comes at the time of loss and mourning. Inheritance tax for most people is a tax-on-tax, in that wealth such as personal savings and property would have been built up from personal income already subject to income tax.
In 2002 The Queen Mother is understood to have left her entire estate estimated at £50 million to her daughter Elizabeth II, including works of art, jewels, antiques and her thoroughbred racehorses. A deal made back in 1993 ensures that The Queen is spared inheritance tax of an estimated £20 million on her mother's estate.
Inheritance Tax has been something of a political football with the government of the time introducing the concept of a transferable nil-rate band (NRB) on 9 October 2007 and the opposition promising to significantly increase the NRB threshold to £1 million to excuse most of middle England's houses from this tax. However, the Coalition government has agreed to keep the threshold for the time being.
Read more about this topic: Inheritance Tax (United Kingdom)
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