It’s the Autumn Statement on 4th December and one measure we would dearly love to see introduced is the abolition of inheritance tax.
In the past week, the newly elected right-wing government in Norway has done just that in its first Budget.
The move was the most eye-catching in their eight billion kroner ($1.3bn) in tax cuts, designed to acknowledge that value must be created before it can be shared.
The country’s new finance minister explained that “Changes in the tax system will make it more profitable to work, save and invest,” adding that inheritance tax is “unfair and unnecessary.”
With HM Revenue & Customs receipts from inheritance tax in the UK forecast to be £3.3 billion in 2013/14, it seems very unlikely that George Osborne will follow the Norwegian lead in scrapping this already largely avoidable (through Financial Planning) death tax.
It would however be nice to see an Autumn Statement full of tax cutting measures, designed to recognise that a lower tax burden would encourage greater wealth creation across the UK, which in turn would make more available to help the poorest in society.
If you have any questions about planning for inheritance tax, do get in touch and our specialist adviser Shelley McCarthy will be delighted to help.
