Julian Jessop, Economics Fellow at the IEA, has commented on Rishi Sunak’s decision to freeze inheritance tax thresholds until 2026 and fears that this may impose higher tax on more middle-income earners.

“I’m not a fan of inheritance tax because it isn’t obvious to me why someone should have to pay more tax because they have died.”

“People should be free to build up assets and pay tax on the assets as they are going along, that’s fine. There might be a case for taxing the capital gains on your first home as well as your second home.”

“The idea you should pay a tax bill because you have died, I don’t really see any justification for that.”

“My personal view is that it should be abolished, I just don’t see what it is about dying that means you should pay tax. It doesn’t make an awful lot of sense to me.”

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