In a major policy announcement that received almost no publicity (showing how out of touch heritage political journalism is) Nigel Farage announced that when Reform gets to power they will scrap inheritance tax.
This would be a major vote winner and I suspect the Tory leadership (it won’t be Kemi) will have to follow suit since anybody over 50 who has made anything of their life wants to leave their hard-earned cash to their families and not the government.
So, to give Farage his credit his credit, he is ahead of the curve as I suspect IHT will become a major issue at next election due to a nasty change made by the new nasty party duo of Starmer and Reeves.
For the first time – and it will affect 40,000 in in its first year- Labour will include your unused pension in your estate. Previously that money would sit outside the estate and then be distributed tax free to the family.
Reform's policy to scrap inheritance tax can power them to an election win in 2029.
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The financial effects will be devastating. I saw some old cobblers from a pension firm saying that on average an estate would pay £35,000 but if you had an average house in the South East it would be easily worth £800,000 and on that estate currently you would pay £190,000 but if you threw in an a £700,000 unused pension that number rises to £470,000.
Labour loves taking your money (dead or alive) and then handing out to the underserved SIDS (Slimy Idle Dim Socialists).
Apologies for throwing those numbers at you but you can see there are a lot of votes to be had if a Farage or Tory comes along and says you won’t have to pay ANY of this because I am scrapping inheritance tax.
There is a cost. Currently robbing the dead sends £7.5billion to the Chancellor. However, since they spend £13.5billion on overseas aid all Reform has to do is cut that figure in half and the books balance.
But I fear that Labour has another cunning plan which strangely will hurry Farage into office. There is a suggestion that they are thinking of scrapping the seven-year rule where you can give your family your money and if you survive seven years then it’s tax free.
Reeves is considering either scrapping the seven-year rule meaning you will have to pay tax on the gift at 40%. This will have devastating effects on the Bank of Mum and Dad which single-handedly is propping up the entire housing industry.
Labour's huge majority means we have to suck up the pain until the General Election.
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The Bank of Mum and Dad has been a fantastic boon for their children getting on the property ladder. The average property price across the country is £267,000 (must be twice that in the South) and therefore to buy one you have to put down between 10% and 20%. That’s a whopping £26,000 to £52,000.
If that were taxed mum and dad would have to pay tax of around £20,000 on that £52,000. Can I point out that 57% of the 167,000 first time buyers had assistance from the Bank of Mum and Dad.
Dumping IHT is an idea whose time has come. It keeps money in the family, money you have already paid tax on, and stops Reeves getting her hands on it so she can pay train drivers £93,000-a-year.
Another good idea is that Reform will scrap inheritance tax on farms and small businesses. I was truly shocked to read in The Times that Daniel Zeichner, the Food and Rural Affairs minister, saying that farmers should accept farming in not high in the ‘’pecking order’’ of this Labour government.
That is cr*p. Farmers supply 60% of the food on our table. They should be at the top of any national priority. We starve without them. Instead train drivers, who hold us to ransom, at every moment gets priority from Starmer and Co.
It’s on the many reasons I feel certain they will be thrown out big time come the General Election. Until that moment we just have to suck it up. Painful but with that majority there’s nothing else we can do.
