What do people think of Labour's proposed "death tax"

Graham_Devon

peterg1965 wrote: »

I am p****d off by the way that Labour say that the consensus of professionals is in favour of a one off tax, why don't they ask us????

Cus the answer wouldn't be in their favour.

Ron2256

drc wrote: »

What do people think of Labour's "death tax"?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7026357.ece

I don't think it's a good idea unfortunately the number of people needing care is rising and is going to rise for a long time. This has a price and money will have to come from somewhere.
It is too easy to be against the death tax but not giving an alternative to it and I can't think of any good alternative.

Radiantsoul

I can't see that there is a big problem if a surviving spouse is protected.

There seems to be no reason why children should expect to inherit.

treliac

Radiantsoul wrote: »

I can't see that there is a big problem if a surviving spouse is protected.

There seems to be no reason why children should expect to inherit.

It seems, and some on the board have been saying, that passing on wealth to their children is a fundamental desire of parents. In which case, people will find a way to do that earlier on..... and spend the rest.

peterg1965

Radiantsoul wrote: »

I can't see that there is a big problem if a surviving spouse is protected.

There seems to be no reason why children should expect to inherit.

I agree, but it is the principle of the State taking more and more money. They take your money throughout your working life, they tax your savings, they tax practically everything you do, the money they take is not spent in the most efficient manner and they want MORE!

I say, scrap 1000 quangos, reduce the size of the state by 20%, then there might be some more money to pay for the more important things that the electorate want NOT the Govt.

pingu2209

If QUALITY free care was available to all elderly people then as a 36 year old far from needing care or death (hopefully), then I would say a 10% (max) death tax would not be unreasonable.

However, there would need to be perameters such as the 10% kicks in only when the estate is over a certain amount (for example £375k or whatever the current inheritance tax is). Also, as with other inheritance tax, if there is a surviving spouce, no tax is paid until that spouce dies. Finally, that the tax would have a minimum age limit, in that only those who die over the age of, say retirement age, pay the tax, for example, what if someone died who was in their 30s or 40s leaving behind a partner (not married) with children?

Perhaps with these perameters the death tax would not be 10% but more like 20 or 30%!!

StevieJ

1984ReturnsForReal wrote: »

I get the point but the application would see people dying with 20k in the bank dying effectively broke & mostly without using any care facility at all.

Its not right.

I am sure they will be turning in their grave

StevieJ

treliac wrote: »

It seems, and some on the board have been saying, that passing on wealth to their children is a fundamental desire of parents. In which case, people will find a way to do that earlier on..... and spend the rest.

Let us hope they can trust those children.

baby_boomer

1984ReturnsForReal wrote: »

I think the point is that this "cost" should be managed through general taxation.

Just like the state pension and many large public sector pensions are "managed" through general taxation . Can we really add another burden paid to the over 60s by the younger generation - exactly at the point when the baby_boomer bulge hits retirement :eek:.

What sort of "management" is that?

There comes a point when you load your mule with so much stuff that it can't carry any of it and it collapses.

We mustn't let that happen to our economy.

Butterfly_Brain

Both of us have worked from the age of 15 and have struggled through years of low wages, redundancy (DH 4 times Me 2) to scrape enough together to buy our house.
What worries me is that it is 10% now but what's to stop the government hiking the rate up like they do everything else.
Just another bloody stealth tax to pay for Labour's ineptitude