Although the Conservatives have voiced plans to cut the number of Britons who pay
inheritance tax, new figures highlight a drop in families paying death duty under Labour.
HM Revenue and Customs predicts that 12,000 households will pay
inheritance tax this year - the lowest figure since records began in 1938.
According to the department's data, the government's total takings from
inheritance tax will fall from £2.83 billion to £2.25 billion during this tax year. A 25 per cent drop is predicted in the number of estates whose value takes them over the £325,000
inheritance tax threshold.
Mike Warburton, director of accountancy firm Grant Thornton, suggests the fall is down to decreasing
house prices, stock market correction and Alistair Darling's 2007 decision to let married couples and civil partners transfer unused
inheritance tax allowance from a deceased spouse to the surviving one.
"Depending upon your point of view, this was either a radical step taken by an enlightened chancellor to ease the burden on middle England or a measure he was bounced into by shadow chancellor George Osborne," he remarks to the Guardian.
The Tories have pledged to increase the inheritance threshold to £1 million if they win the next election.
