Stuart Trow, Columnist

Weaponizing Inheritance Tax Is Bad Economics

The levy is unfair, but so are the proposals to reduce or abolish it.

January 18, 2024 at 5:00 AM UTC

Stuart Trow is co-host of “Money, Money, Money” on Switch Radio and author of “The Bluffer’s Guide to Economics.” Previously, he was a strategist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Inheritance tax is the most-hated levy in Britain.
Photographer: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Europe

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Inheritance tax is emerging as one of the clearest points of difference between the Labour and Conservative parties as they jostle for voter attention ahead of the next election. Yet just because their views are diametrically opposed doesn’t mean that either has a monopoly on good economics.

Barely a week goes by without a report that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is considering scrapping what’s been dubbed Britain’s most hated tax. And, to be fair, the antipathy toward IHT is invariably reflected in surveys. According to pollster YouGov, 61% believe the tax to be unfair and 56% would support it being scrapped altogether. Inheritance tax also regularly tops surveys as people’s top tax peeve, bothering 24% of respondents according to investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown versus 17% for second-placed income tax and National Insurance.