The official site of the Prime Minister’s Office
BETA
E-Petitions
- Petitions home
- View petitions
- Create a petition
- About e-petitions
- Step-by-Step Guide
- FAQs
- Terms and Conditions
- Privacy Policy
This petition is now closed, as its deadline has passed.
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to ensure that inheritance tax is scrapped in this year's Budget. More details
Submitted by Macer Hall of Daily Express – Deadline to sign up by: 30 April 2007 – Signatures: 128,622
Petition update, 24 May 2007
The e–petition asking the Prime Minister to 'ensure that inheritance tax is scrapped in this year's Budget' has now closed. This is a response from the Government.Thank you for signing the e-petition calling for the abolition of Inheritance Tax.
The Government understands that paying taxes whether they are direct or indirect, on our income, savings or spending is not always popular. But people also know that, without the money raised through taxation, there would be no funds to pay for our health service, our schools, our police, our Armed Forces, our roads and many other services essential to our nation and quality of life. What Governments have to do is to try to ensure the tax system is both fair and efficient.
Inheritance tax, paid on estates worth over £300,000, is one way of raising funds for our public services. There is, of course, nothing new about estate duties. They have been in force, in one way or another, for over a hundred years. Inheritance tax - which replaced Capital Transfer Tax - was introduced in its present form in 1986.
No money or assets, no matter how much, left to spouses, civil partners or to charity attracts inheritance tax. No inheritance tax is paid on any estates under £300,000 or on the first £300,000 of estates larger than this. Above this limit, assets are taxed at 40%.
The result is that inheritance tax is paid by the estates of just 6% of those who pass away, around 35,000 estates this year. But the money raised, it is forecast, will amount to £4 billion this year.
It is important to emphasise that if inheritance tax or any other tax was abolished, either public spending would have to be cut or money would have to be raised elsewhere. The £4 billion raised from Inheritance Tax is equivalent, for example, to an increase of over 18p on petrol duty.
But while the Government has no plans to abolish inheritance tax, we do keep all taxes under review to ensure they remain fair and efficient. The Chancellor has already announced that the inheritance tax allowance, now at £300,000, will rise faster than forecast inflation over the coming years and will reach £350,000 by 2010/11.
Thank you again for signing this e-petition.
Further information
Directgov Inheritance Tax pages - http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/Taxes/InheritanceTaxEstatesAndTrusts/DG_4016736
HM Revenue & Customs Inheritance Tax pages - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cto/iht.htm
Get all the latest news from No.10 by subscribing to our email service - http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page36.asp
Downing Street homepage - http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page1.asp
Downing Street YouTube channel - http://www.youtube.com/10DowningStreet
More details from petition creator
Inheritance tax is an immoral form of taxation that penalises hard work and thrift. By raising a 40% levy on earned assets, it is also effectively double taxation. It frequently piles financial misery and distress on families already suffering the pain of bereavement; that is nothing less than grave robbery. Over the last decade, millions of households have been drawn into the death duty trap by steadily rising property prices. Often, people are forced to sell their family homes to pay the duty. The burden of death duty largely falls not on the super rich, who can often afford to use tax avoidance schemes, but on millions of hard-pressed families struggling on modest incomes. For all the anguish it causes, inheritance tax raises a tiny proportion of the Government’s revenue, less than one per cent. Supporters of this petition believe that inheritance tax is inherently unfair and should therefore be abolished outright in the Chancellor's forthcoming Budget.
Current signatories
Because there are so many signatories, only the most recent 500 are shown on this page.
- Tamal Ray
- Jackie Jackson
- Judith Kinmond
- ollie foster
- Richard Megson
- katie kean
- Martyn Underhill
- Kathryn Ramsay
- Peter J. Pegrum
- Paul Anthony Cook
- Audrey Kay Cook
- Anna Mayatt
- Mike Perry
- Paul White
- Chris Gilbert
- Jane Najim
- John Ollerton
- Alayne Krawczyk
- maggiedaub
- Elizabeth Clark
- andrew ramsay
- roger jubin
- Michelle Levi
- Derek Mather
- Robert West
- Iain MacCallum
- Siobhan Elam
- BEN UPSON
- Robert Howard
- Paul Bailey
- tom barcis
- leatesh patel
- Timothy Nicholson
- Terence Fish
- Joseph Murphy
- jennifer frow
- John Tozer
- Margaret Morse
- Anthony Durber
- Harold Hind
- Paul Edwards
- Fiona Bangert
- A Moore
- Ruth Mowlem
- alan kennard
- robert borg
- Marion Marshall
- S Webb
- Aileen McLeish
- Sue O'Neill
- Christopher Knight
- Michael Cleary
- Ian Lewis
- Helen Quick
- Elizabeth Dorothy Gibson
- Ann Harrison
- Jenny Delaforce
- Karen J Reeve
- Robert Lewis Randle
- elaine raven
- christopher mullooly
- Helen May
- Graham H Hatfield
- Sarah Hardy
- Luke Allies
- Geoffrey Mooney
- Ann Imlach
- Claire McNeil
- Peter Cannon
- Jacky Hardy
- s. saeed
- Jimmy Barnard
- Hannah Lawfull
- M Griffith
- J Griffith
- J E Griffith
- E F C Griffith
- K Bailey
- Matthew Crawford
- Richard Gibson
- Angela Marshall
- john evans
- A. J. IRWIN
- Jan Deakin
- V Golding
- Helen Walters
- Theresa Brown
- Sue Valentine
- Antonia Bartholomew
- Kenneth Issitt
- janet miller
- Jeremy Spencer-Cooper
- Paul Madine
- Jamie Robinson-Woledge
- Keith Murray
- Lynn Poppleton
- Richard Bayton
- John Stanford Garn
- Katy Davies
- Brian J Garner
- mr stevenson
- Susan Clark Palmer
- stephen moss
- Kate Gwilliam
- Ben Tate
- ben woodward
- chris Spencer
- Andrew Norfolk
- James Heard
- daniella young
- Ben McMurdo
- Alex Tibbles
- Edward Jefferson
- Graham Fallows
- Catherine Gough
- Mark Cleghorn
- G Jackson
- David Mansfield
- vincent square
- Anthony Lloyd
- Nicholas Crocker
- David Brooks
- Alexandra Setchell
- Martin Grout
- Zainab Juma
- Vicki Miller
- linda liddiard
- Edwina Davies
- tony kidd
- Linda Crabtree
- Frank Davies
- Arnie Thompson
- Michael Fletcher
- graham elllis
- brenda oakes
- Adam Atkinson
- Terry Langan
- alex fry
- Paul Crowther
- J H Alexander
- mark bradshaw
- dfharding
- Christopher Ian Flowers
- Robert Bruce
- Aileen HOWELLS
- mark diegutis
- Jonathan Leech
- mel ackerman
- Duncan Adams
- Graham Le-Gall
- Alister Hussain
- philip smith
- Alistair McLean
- R CRAWFORD
- James Mawson
- Peter Kempshall
- Graham Heard
- James Nunnerley
- emma stokes
- Francis John Caves
- ROBERT HACHENG
- JOHN DEWI EVANS
- john moore
- Ian David Probert
- Peter Olsen
- Miles Stapleton
- Ross Adams
- helen kelly
- Terry Bridgman
- Tom Monk
- suzanna krykant
- Barrie Appleby
- Samantha Lewis
- Brian Wilson
- Janet Barbara Wilson
- S. Flood
- emma crawford
- lloyd crawford
- jane crawford
- A McMurdo
- Sam Gilling
- Ian CARMICHAEL
- Susan Shan Pinna
- Sheena CARMICHAEL
- Margaret Powell
- A Naylor
- G Ballinger
- M Ballinger
- A C Abbott
- Emma Randles
- Anne Brobbel
- Gerald Symons
- Wendy Symons
- w.norris
- martin bradley
- Graham Matson
- Paul Cummins
- mark coe
- Julia Swales
- Josephine Joy
- John Moseley
- John Ponsford
- David Stobbs
- Ray Rowling
- Margaret Garvey
- Patrick Coffey
- K. Panchaud
- pauline stott
- L.Butler
- Mark Herbert
- sarah barr
- Rhys Pinna-Griffith
- Alan Gibson
- Rob Clark
- Richard Vaughan-Davies
- Andrew Blackwell
- Steve Blackwell
- Lucy O'Connor
- Judy Blackwell
- James Blackwell
- Clare Spivey
- jane nash
- Natalie Poppleton
- Tom Kelsey
- D Bower
- Thom Buxton-Smith
- mr.mrs.t.f.champ
- James Paull
- Frank Reeves
- lyn robinson
- Simon Abbotts
- Pauline Naylor
- Jane Hay
- Sue Fisher
- wayne bradley
- Angela Taylor
- Phillip Purdy
- Alan Ramsay
- Marilyn Kempshall
- Dan Mountain
- S Shaladi
- Dave Hufton
- lisa bradley
- Alan Daniel
- Amanda Town
- Matthew Yates
- Fran Chalmers
- Graham A Welsh
- Robert Dean
- Tammy Harris
- James P
- Margaret Smith
- David Hilton
- Sarah Lynch
- Michael Roche
- gillian Willett
- Regine Caves
- Adam Hill
- janet hill
- Anthony G Connor
- Jordan sinfield
- Edward Nicol
- Elizabeth O'Neill
- John Nicholls
- Alan Furniss
- G. E. Fenwick
- Judy Berry
- Colin Byatt
- Karl Honey
- L Jones-Parry
- Stephen Murrey
- Bob Fuller
- Robert Hay
- Mary Davis
- Toni Fuller
- Rhian Whaley
- Mihael Folland
- Martin Davis
- Peter Gompertz
- Bernard Ridley
- Diana Ridley
- Laura Hamilton
- m mackley
- Andrew Leviston
- James Milton
- sandra robinson
- Kay Jackson
- Sarah Vasquez
- Lorraine Birch
- Sheila Tavendale
- Mike Credicott
- Robert Dell
- Kelley Ann Parker
- sean hanson
- Carol Sheane
- P. Rose
- Harry Heritage
- J A Pook
- Emma Whitford
- Alan Hughes
- Clare Harrill
- D.J.McLellan
- Abigail Findlay
- Paul Crowe
- Thelma Richardson
- Barry Ball Mr
- Kevin Doherty
- Emma Dawes
- Jonathan Ambrose
- Robert Freestone
- Lynn Walker
- Brian Steaton
- Russell Horne
- Ann Horne
- Stephanie Gallagher
- Kim Herington
- Hameera Saeed
- norman parr
- Russell Aisbitt
- Joe Walker
- Ann McIlroy
- Lisa Ambrose
- GARY CROSSLEY
- Les Thomas
- Nigel Collighan
- Jon Moody
- Peter Green
- J Mangham
- Nicola Cowan
- Rowena Wismayer
- \Judith Beavis
- George Murphy
- Robert Wilkinson
- Robert Bellingham
- simonbunker1
- Richard Morris
- Ty Medland
- Ian Housego
- Derrick Norris
- Charles Shentall
- Zezy Heath
- Charles Armstrong
- Hannah Wells
- David Markovitch
- Michael Tavendale
- Doreen Humphries
- Brian Hardy
- Christine Varney
- H. Shaw
- Richard Scott
- Doreen Wallace
- Mr. A. D. Kaye
- Romina
- Shivcharan Varma
- Charlene
- Frances Moon
- Nigel Hopkins
- Suresh Varma
- Barbara & Robert Baxter
- Jay Long
- Stephen Varney
- Ashley Patterson
- Tony Campbell
- Tony Parsons
- Andy Hyatt
- Jon Thompson
- Rob Isaacson
- Christopher Mayoh
- Kevin Lewis
- Judith Edwards
- Sarah Hitchens
- HELEN MURRAY
- Gaynor Harris
- Vanessa White
- Tom Scamman
- Robert Monaghan
- Katherine Scamman
- R E Millerchip
- Mary Loxley
- Marie Green
- Penny Baird
- John Palmer
- paul Stapleton
- Kannah Vasishtan
- Ms. Jaime Walker
- Sarah Crouch
- Jamie Sanders
- Esther Levi
- Graham Causey
- darren hyde
- sarah mortlock
- Martin Read
- Andrew Starkey
- Simon Pinson
- Peter Hamilton
- J Clayton
- Neil Marjoram
- Robert Johns
- Dorothy Sykes
- david sole
- Lorraine Templeton-Cross
- Stephen Neal
- Colin Handforth
- Jackie Smout
- Hilary Melville
- Martina Darley
- Mr J L Whitchurch
- Susan Simm
- Felicity Naish
- john elms
- Teresa Carlysle
- Gerald Casey
- Jill Ridgeon
- Darren McPhee
- JANE STEVENS
- dan conwell
- Kath Critchley
- Marian Simmons
- AMY DEVLIN
- Leanne Kelly
- Helen Barry
- Nicholas Carpenter
- laura davies
- J LIPSCOMBE
- Atul Tanna
- Margarita George
- susan downey
- Richard Barry
- David Austin
- Mary Lynn Mundell
- RICHARD HOLLISTER
- michaelngilbert
- Alex Wilkins
- malcolm bird
- Paul Minton
- Peter Baker
- dave newman
- Simon J. Ling
- Melanie Smith
- peterv layton
- Neil Gascoyne
- perminder chohan
- Robert Wilson
- Rhian Prewett
- Deborah Milner
- Philip Richardson
- Paul Willis
- Malcolm Ellison
- Richard Francis
- Ruth McCann
- Elizabeth Hall
- irene costello, 59, sycamore drive, hixon stafford
- Graham Brown
- Michelle Twiselton
- DENNIS BARBER
- Tim Puffett
- Anne Puffett
- cerian price
- J J Thomas
- Paul Chapman
- clinton clay
- Marc Symonds
- joe burston
- Lindsay Clegg
- Lee Williams
- Bill Jessop
- theresa marsden
- simon alan jepson
- Kenneth Longstaff
- Jacqueline Borland
- Edward Jones
- Susan Cadman
- Mari Humphreys
- Dennis Philp
- Nicholas Smith
- neil beament
- Dave Share
- George Addison
- j e young
- matt leighton
- Halina Johnson
- R carr
- Brian Clarke
- geoff tull
- NASHREEN BUX
- Mann Ken LI
- Margaret Ann
- Birgit Pritchard
- Peter Breen
- Mark Pritchard
- Scott Pritchard
- Stefanie kent
- robert barrie
- Paul john simpson
- Janet Mary Benn
- Martin Phillips
- Scott Phillips
- Sheila Phillips
- Martin Ash
- JP Thwaites
Because there are so many signatories, only the most recent 500 are shown on this page.
