Jan 24 2007
The amount of revenue raised by the government through inheritance tax (IHT) is not significant enough for the government to continue with the effort and pressure related to its collection for it to continue with the current system, it has been claimed.
An independent campaign group for lower taxes in Britain, the TaxPayer's Alliance, has argued that the tax should be abolished from a moral perspective, while stating the threshold should at least be increased to exclude increasing numbers of working people in the UK.
James Frayne, a campaign director for the organisation, said of the tax: "It doesn't raise that much in revenue and I think they will take a look at the opinion polls and say that it is not worth the effort."
He added that there was a possibility of the threshold being raised, though the government may increase other taxes to compensate for lost revenue, but stated there was "no upside" for the government to continue with the current IHT system.
In November 2006, research from Scottish Widows revealed that 5.3 million people in the UK would be liable for IHT under the current threshold based solely on the value of their property.
