Cameron suggests tax cut for richest 4% of estates

cepheus

Even more handouts to the rich just before the election. How long can the other 96% of the electorate stand this outrage, constantly making up the shortfall in revenues as a result of these 'tax cuts'?

Inheritance is one of the most counter productive of gains to society, since the recipient has rarely worked for it. What signal does that give off?

theEnd

Rich people don't pay inheritance tax.

shortchanged_2

The problem is more and more people are relying on inheritance mainly due to high house prices in the UK.

Personally I don't see why there can't be a tiered inheritance tax such as 20% from £350000 to £500000, 30% from £500k to £1 million and 40% above a million.

IronWolf

cepheus wrote: »

Even more handouts to the rich just before the election. How long can the other 96% of the electorate stand this outrage, constantly making up the shortfall in revenues as a result of these 'tax cuts'?

Inheritance is one of the most counter productive of gains to society, since the recipient has rarely worked for it. What signal does that give off?

"The Government's official forecaster has said the proportion of estates attracting inheritance tax would double within the next four years from one in 20 today to almost one in 10."

People like you just want to continuously lower the boundary where the label 'rich' applies.

Generali

cepheus wrote: »

Even more handouts to the rich just before the election. How long can the other 96% of the electorate stand this outrage, constantly making up the shortfall in revenues as a result of these 'tax cuts'?

Inheritance is one of the most counter productive of gains to society, since the recipient has rarely worked for it. What signal does that give off?

This isn't a handout to the rich, it's a reduction in the massive amount of tax rich people pay.

The bottom 50% of the population basically pay no tax in net terms. The bottom 90%, very little. It's only really the top 10% that pay much at all into the pot.

princeofpounds

It's only really the top 10% that pay much at all into the pot.

The top 10% of earners is very different to the top 10% of wealth holders.

Most of the really rich don't really have UK-based earnings. Terribly inefficient way to do things. Many don't even have any UK-based assets (keep assets offshore with a bank, use them as collateral to borrow very cheaply in UK with same bank).

When a lot of people think about things like tax bands they often think the top tax band = rich. More realistically, it's a group I would term the 'working and employed' rich, as opposed to the 'owning' rich.

michaels

When I die my house will hopefully be paid off and inflation will mean it is worth more than 650k, pretty sure that won't even put us in the top 10% by assets at that point. Of course the house will have been purchased from incoem that I have already paid tax on at an average rate in the 30s percent.

tincans6

michaels wrote: »

When I die my house will hopefully be paid off and inflation will mean it is worth more than 650k, pretty sure that won't even put us in the top 10% by assets at that point. Of course the house will have been purchased from incoem that I have already paid tax on at an average rate in the 30s percent.

Yay - more tax on income from work and less on capital gains.

cells

Generali wrote: »

This isn't a handout to the rich, it's a reduction in the massive amount of tax rich people pay.

The bottom 50% of the population basically pay no tax in net terms. The bottom 90%, very little. It's only really the top 10% that pay much at all into the pot.

Is that true

we know most income tax is paid by high wage earners but what about VAT and NI fuel duty cig and alcohol duty council tax etc

Also how would you treat the £150B a year borrowed whos that for/under/attributed to.

all in all the gov spends roughly 700B, collects 550B, I find it hard to believe the top 10% even contributes 25% of the 700B

cells

The best taxes are those that are optional like inheritance tax.

ruggedtoast

Generali wrote: »

This isn't a handout to the rich, it's a reduction in the massive amount of tax rich people pay.

The bottom 50% of the population basically pay no tax in net terms. The bottom 90%, very little. It's only really the top 10% that pay much at all into the pot.

What is the range of incomes in that 10% though? I am certainly not rich but the taxman takes a good swipe out of my salary.

I am beginning to think that under globalisation there isn't much point trying to pretend that governments are able to enforce income redistribution. It's only the middle earners that it affects as the really rich just dodge it.

Instead maybe we should begin to have a conversation about what kind of world we want to have and what philanthropic obligations the super wealthy should be judged by.