Nothing is certain but death and taxes

A recent poll found that inheritance tax is the most hated tax of all, and yet I would imagine that most people would agree with the general principle of redistribution of wealth, which is exactly what inheritance tax is designed to achieve. So what's the problem? The most quoted objection is that it's double taxation - a tax on money which has already been taxed. And yet, what is VAT if not double taxation, and you don't hear people complaining about that (or its predecessor, purchase tax). No, I think there are three main problems with inheritance tax. The first and most obvious is that it is no longer a rich person's tax - it is now catching people who would not consider themselves as particularly well off. But more than this, it's a tax which catches people at the worst possible moment. Most executors are close relatives of the deceased, and the last thing they want at a time of grief is insensitive hassle from the Revenue. And then there's the problem when - as is often the case - the majority of the value of the estate is in the family home, which may have to be sold to pay the tax. You would have thought that, where this is the case, the problem could be dealt with by the Revenue taking a charge on the property, rather than requiring its sale. All in all, I think a lot of the distaste and distress the tax causes could be avoided if the Revenue took a more sensitive and flexible approach. Unfortunately this is not something that they're known for. Perhaps there is a case for a separate section being set up to handle collection of the tax?