New figures released by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) climbed by £0.6 billion in September, reaching a total of £3.5 billion since April.
This sets total receipts at a level £0.4 billion higher than this time last year.
With property prices having soared incessantly for months on end, it is no surprise that the value of people’s estates, and therefore the inheritance tax they’re liable for, has skyrocketed amid the government’s March 2021 decision to maintain the IHT tax free thresholds at their 2020 to 2021 levels up to and including 2025 to 2026.
This comes as government minister Andrew Griffith called for the abolition of the tax earlier in October, stating:
“I celebrate wealth creating and risk taking. We’ve got to drive that into the system. It can’t be right that the only time a businessman is ever on the BBC is that they’re greedy, underpaying their staff or exploiting consumers. That cannot be right … The answer is that we […] have to be politically brave and have the courage of our convictions. Not enough of us make first principle defences of why it’s so important.”
Contrasted with this is recent suggestions from Tax Justice UK, who called on the government to introduce five tax reforms targeting the very wealthy in order to raise up to £37 billion for the public purse.
Their recommendations included closing loopholes on inheritance tax to raise £1.4 billion and the introduction of a 1% tax on super-rich people’s assets over £10 million, which they say would raise another £10 billion.
