The Chancellor of the Exchequer has made it clear that the so-called ‘death tax’ will not be revived.
Delivering the Spring Budget earlier today (08/03/17), Chancellor Philip Hammond shunned the possibility of the tax, which was originally proposed by Gordon Brown’s Labour Government as a way of overhauling the spending on social care. This occurred prior to the 2010 election and brought forward the idea that a 10% levy, in addition to Inheritance Tax, should be applied to estates in order to fund social care.
Delivering his speech, Mr Hammond swiftly dismissed the tax which initially received criticism from the Conservative party.
“The long-term challenges of sustainably funding care in older age requires a strategic approach. And the government will set out its thinking on the options for the future financing of Social Care in a Green Paper later this year.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Mr Deputy Speaker, those options do not include, and never have included, a Death Tax.”
