Peers call for 'inheritance tax overhaul'

Date: 9th May 2008

A number of peers in the House of Lords have called for changes to the way inheritance tax is levied in the UK, it has emerged.

Arguments were put forward suggesting that members of the same family should be able to transfer their inheritance tax exemption allocations to one another in the same way as spouses or civil partners.

However, Lord Davies of Oldham made the case that there has to be a line drawn on the issue somewhere and under any system there are likely to be individuals who feel themselves hard done by.

"There will be costs to the exchequer if the exemption is extended and it should be recognised that only four per cent of estates pay inheritance tax," he said.

According to the BBC, the debate was sparked following a failed court case recently in which two unmarried sisters both aged over 80 were denied the right to avoid inheritance tax on their jointly-owned £550,000 property in Marlborough.

The government's own website makes clear that inheritance tax is due from all people whose total assets are worth more than £312,000 but that they can be transferred between married couples.