Tax On Tax

[Steve A]

Someone i know has recently lost a family member, now in the Will there was some money left to them, and to my shock found out that you have to pay Tax on the money they inherited, now forgive me if i know little about the way it works but how in gods holy butt hole can they justify taking Tax off what would have already been taxed once already, as if the solicitors fees wasn't enough, just wondered if anyone have any info on why this is, its not as if they dont take enough off us anyway to waste on druggies imigrants and pointless projects...

[alexander]

I think the first £150,000 are taxed and then on after it is 40% that the Government takes.

[Swafe]

See, I'd have no problem paying inheritance tax (It was about 0.1% when my mate had to pay it) So, at least its reasonable, but thinking about it, taxing on tax, is a bit silly, they tax us for enough as it is already.

And 40%? Blimey, thats a lot of wedge there getting after 150k! I bet the American Goverment are going to be rubbing their hands in glee when Bill Gates dies, that'll be 40 Billion US for them.... and the way hes going by the time he dies, 10 times that

[tim_n]

rofl - I can sense the bitterness from here...

Yes, taxing does indeed suck - it's worse when you've got a house left to you. Fortunately, there are ways to delay it (and in somecases avoid) but you have to prepare for it in advance. My parents have just stuck their estate into a Trust. That means that if either (or both) dies it goes into the trust rather than to me. I can then hassle together the money to pay the inheritence tax or sell the house. The point being I don't get taxed until I can afford it and in the meantime, if I get married & divorced, the other half can't get their grubby paws on it :- )

[Jonny M]

Personally I think the amount of rich-boys who claim back VAT by making purchases through their dad's company on things which obviously aren't company purchases are worse than the government who impose taxes on people.

</rant>

[TiG]

Guys, please can we not guess at these sorts of figures.

Inheritance tax is now set at £275000 pounds before it starts. Yes its a bad thing to have tax on because it does cause additional stress to the families as it does seem like a insensitive thing to have tax on.

But in reality if you've sat on a lot of money, and someone is inheriting a lot of money which anything over £275000 is, is paying some tax really that bad a thing?. I mean the dead person can't take the money with them, and the person inheriting is getting over £275000....

Two links to read more if you are interested.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programme...ch/2326123.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4672805.stm

TiG

[Steve A]

I can see all your points, but does someone actually know why you pay tax on money that has already been taxed, so in effect its like me doing a months work getting paid and Gordon "greedy Bast@rd" Brown charging me double tax..... fooking appauling if you ask me, im not talking serious amounts of wonga, rougly between 20-30k but that is between 3 people who arent rich and have spent 40 years paying tax, if i know im gonna snuff it im getting a bankers draft and giving it too em..

[silent ben]

To bypass this problem, my grandparents are giving away alot of their savings before they die. I get £1000 about every 2 years (for the last 3 years). The good thing about getting it now, is its in an ISA, so lots of extra money for me, and its also going to go towards my uni costs if i need it (which i probably will, 4 year course with 20 hours of lectures a week, and at least 15 hours extra study according to the students already there)

[Dougal]

I think the governement sees it as "Income"

[iranu]

Inheritance tax is immoral.

I understand that we have to pay taxes and I am not griping about the tax system overall but inheritance tax is discraceful. It should not matter how much money is left to an individual from a family member. That money is private money that has already been taxed, as said before. To tax it again simply beacuse the owner has died is a disgrace and it should be abolished.

The amount of stress and hassle caused to the berieved is huge. I am tired of goverenments who take a slice of peoples incomes unfairly. The average house price in the UK is close to 200k, chuck in a car and some possessions which they now want to include (including light fittings - yeah it's crazy) and it's not hard for Mr and Mrs Average to pass the threshold.

Why should we be penalised if our parents have been mildly successful and own their own home and have a new car and a bit of cash put aside.

With the increasing cost of private pensions and the decreasing payout from the state pension it would make more sense for people to be given a chance to provide for themselves. After all when they die they will pass their money/possessions onto their children.

Only the state can see this as a bad idea.

[tim_n]

No, the real shame is when someone goes into care and has to donate their estate to the government rather than get the healthcare they've been paying in NI contributions since they started earning. We had to pay for a private healthcare which was actually cheaper for us in the long run.

There's probably inaccuracies in there, so feel free to point 'em out.

[smtkr]

And 40%? Blimey, thats a lot of wedge there getting after 150k! I bet the American Goverment are going to be rubbing their hands in glee when Bill Gates dies, that'll be 40 Billion US for them.... and the way hes going by the time he dies, 10 times that

Apparently, he's giving almost all of his money to charity when he passes (each child will receive about 20 million USD). I think that since the money is going to charity, the government can't steal it (although Uncle Sam will get a pretty penny from the 'small' amount going to his children).

[Knoxville]

Personally I think the amount of rich-boys who claim back VAT by making purchases through their dad's company on things which obviously aren't company purchases are worse than the government who impose taxes on people.

</rant>

Why should we have to pay 17.5% more for everything than the rest of the world?

[nichomach]

Why should we have to pay 17.5% more for everything than the rest of the world?

We don't. Most jurisdictions have some form of sales tax it's just that when you look at say US prices on line, they don't include the local sales taxes.

[Stoo]

But then the sales taxes are a hell of a lot lower than ours..

[mark22]

I think it's a good idea to put your house in your children's name when you get older so there's no tax to pay when you go. Just make sure the solicitors make it so only you can sell it or decide what goes on until you die. What a lovely friday summer evening thought. Beer time I feel.