Demos verdict on annual Inheritance Tax statistics

In response to the latest annual government statistics on Inheritance Tax liabilities, Dan Goss, senior researcher at Demos and lead on Demos’ Unlocking Inheritance research programme, said:

“Just a tiny proportion of inheritance is taxed, with the majority being paid by a small number of very wealthy estates. The Chancellor has made clear her desire to find ways to fill the £20bn fiscal hole, making it inevitable that inheritance tax will be one of the options on the table. 

“Now is a golden opportunity for the UK to comprehensively reform inheritance tax. If the government does this alongside the public, it can create a more progressive system, as seen in other comparable nations across the world. For instance, if the UK taxed inheritance at the same rate as South Korean, the government would have at least £3.6bn more to spend each year. This is money that could be put towards the public’s priorities of fixing our broken public services and infrastructure, and is therefore an opportunity that the government would do well to take. “