‘Inheritance tax should be abolished’, says Treasury minister

Andrew Griffith, a City minister, has said that the Government should abolish inheritance tax.

Speaking at a Centre for Policy Studies event at the Conservative party conference on Monday, the treasury minister said :

“I have lots of my fantastic local association [members] with me here and they will know because they asked me at my selection meeting 27 months ago which tax, if I had the choice, I would most like to see eliminated. History will record it was inheritance tax.”

All taxpayers have a personal IHT allowance – the nil-rate band – of £325,000, above which an estate is charged at a rate of 40pc. There are additional allowances for passing a family home to direct descendants worth £175,000.

Married couples and civil partners can combine their allowances, which means that many can pass on up to £1m tax free.

Mr Griffith said: “My view is inheritance tax is profoundly unpopular – better to call it death taxes. I would be terribly thrilled if the Government contemplated that again, not least in economic terms as it means you retain capital in your own country.”

Mr Griffith added that he knew “a lot of people who have made considerable amounts of money and regrettably very, very many of them move their tax domicile overseas. I think that is a sad loss to the UK.

Prime Minister Liz Truss promised on her campaign trail that she would review the levy. Experts have urged the Government to raise both the main and residence nil-rate bands.

Under the current Government's plans, the IHT thresholds remain frozen until 2026.