3.6 million people liable for IHT by 2009
Inheritance tax to snare 70% more people by 2009, according to new research
More than 3.6 million people will be liable for inheritance tax by 2009 – an
increase of 70% from 2002 – a study by Grant Thornton and Lombard Street
Research has found.
The IHT threshold will be increased to £300,000 in 2007, but the study found
that even a predicted IHT threshold of £312,000 in 2009 will still snare an
ever-increasing proportion of the population.
Ian Johnson, head of private client services at Grant Thornton, said ‘Since
the present government came to office, IHT receipts have more than doubled
despite there being no change to the IHT rate.
‘Many more people are going to die with estates potentially subject to 40%
tax on wealth over the threshold. Even the government’s own figures show that by
2005-6, some 37,000 are projected to pay inheritance tax (an increase of 54%
since 2002, when 24,000 estates paid the tax).
‘Death has long been deemed a convenient way to raise tax on the value of a
deceased person’s assets or estate. While it used to be a tax on the very rich,
our research has shown it is a growing problem for millions of people with
modest estates.’