Emailed in by MBK from The Sunday Times:
What aspect of the tax system would you change?
I would scrap inheritance tax. The very rich don’t pay it, anyway. But if your mom and dad own a semi-detached house in south London and get killed in a car crash, the first thing you have to do, even before you finish grieving, is sell your house to pay the tax.
Ahem.
Paying by instalments on a house
If you plan to sell the house, you only need to find 10 per cent of the Inheritance Tax due by the six-month deadline...
If you plan to keep the house and live in it, you may prefer to pay by instalments because you only need to find 10 per cent of the Inheritance Tax each year (plus the interest), rather than having to pay all of it up front in one lump sum.
So there is no pressure to sell and it's still a lot cheaper than renting or paying a mortgage. I'd rather pay up to 4% in IHT each year for ten years than pay a mortgage for 25 years or pay rent for ever.
Debate Magazine
