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UKIP win Clacton by-election by a landslide

And the guy who has worked all his life to afford that house loses the right to pass it on intact to his children, whereas the same guy, in the identical house, 200 miles away, can leave it to his kids untouched. Yeah, I get your idea of fairness now.......
So his child never has to work to get a house. Very convenient for him, I suppose.
 
.......If their net assets exceed £325k then they are rich (putting them in the top 3%).........

At least you aren't calling them very rich now.

You clearly have no idea how poverty stricken some areas of the South east are, and how working people desperately struggle to afford to live here.........and all because an undersupply of houses and an influx of foreign capital into the area have artificially inflated house prices.
 
I don't really see that the fact that houses are ridiculously expensive in London is in itself an argument against inheritance tax. It might be an argument against houses being so expensive in London, I suppose.

None of the houses I have mentioned or linked to have been in London.
 
So his child never has to work to get a house. Very convenient for him, I suppose.

Sidestepping my point, which was about fairness: different treatment of identical people in identical circumstances in different locations.

Of course, "child" helps your point........."children" makes things look a bit different.
 
That's a skewed question. It is skewed by the fact that it wouldn't be my sole asset, which I have specified in all my posts. It would be a bonus.

OK, in another bizarre coincidence, I have magic powers. I have just disappeared all your assets. You are standing in the streets in your pants, and that's all you own. Does that alter your choice of which house you want?
 
OK, in another bizarre coincidence, I have magic powers. I have just disappeared all your assets. You are standing in the streets in your pants, and that's all you own. Does that alter your choice of which house you want?

Yes. I would choose the house nearest my work, my family and my friends. Without hesitation. Thanks for the offer :)
 
And the guy who has worked all his life to afford that house loses the right to pass it on intact to his children, whereas the same guy, in the identical house, 200 miles away, can leave it to his kids untouched. Yeah, I get your idea of fairness now.......

No he doesn't, neither of them would pay inheritance tax as the threshold is 325,000. Even if it was worth more, he (or she) would still leave more money to his kids, I know who I'd rather have as my parent.
 
No he doesn't, neither of them would pay inheritance tax as the threshold is 325,000. Even if it was worth more, he (or she) would still leave more money to his kids, I know who I'd rather have as my parent.

But you're falling for the same old issue.....

Plasterer in Caephilly dies and leaves 100% of the value of his house to his 2 kids. They get 50% of a house each.

Plasterer in Walthamstow dies, estate pays 10% inheritance tax, the 2 kids end up with 45% of the value of a house each. How is that fair?

It is utterly irrelevant how much houses are worth 200 miles away.......people live where their family and their work is, almost exclusively. Why should the kids of a plasterer in the SE be penalised for living in the south east, when all other circumstances are identical with the kids of a plasterer living in Wales or Northumberland?
 
... I have a specific interest in Europe, the majority of my business' turnover comes from Europe and my clients have been quite clear that if the U.K. was to leave the E.U. they wouldn't be able to do business with me any more...

Do they give you any reasons? Would the UK be then subject to import duty and so forth?
 
But you're falling for the same old issue.....

Plasterer in Caephilly dies and leaves 100% of the value of his house to his 2 kids. They get 50% of a house each.

Plasterer in Walthamstow dies, estate pays 10% inheritance tax, the 2 kids end up with 45% of the value of a house each. How is that fair?

It is utterly irrelevant how much houses are worth 200 miles away.......people live where their family and their work is, almost exclusively. Why should the kids of a plasterer in the SE be penalised for living in the south east, when all other circumstances are identical with the kids of a plasterer living in Wales or Northumberland?

The plasterer in Walthamstow does have another choice; to sell his house, move to Caerphilly, buy a very similar house, bank a significant sum and start his own business. He is materially better off, if he is willing to move.
 
The plasterer in Walthamstow does have another choice; to sell his house, move to Caerphilly, buy a very similar house, bank a significant sum and start his own business. He is materially better off, if he is willing to move.

"On yer bike"......Norman Tebbitt. :D Not the most popular suggestion of the 80s.
 
Plasterer in Caephilly dies and leaves 100% of the value of his house to his 2 kids. They get 50% of a house each.

Plasterer in Walthamstow dies, estate pays 10% inheritance tax, the 2 kids end up with 45% of the value of a house each. How is that fair?

Used to be true, but is it still true? Families tend to be more scattered these days, going where the work is etc. If we have no idea where the beneficiaries live, then taxing the 325k* Walthamstow 2-up 2-down at the same rate as its Caerphilly equivalent 2-up 2-down is tantamount to assuming that the Walthamstow beneficiaries are in that area and suffering NE London prices.

* Are such houses still that cheap? Walthamstow is on a major tube route to central London. I thought the Chinese had bought all those houses already and prices were now pushing £.5M ;) ;)
 
And the guy who has worked all his life to afford that house loses the right to pass it on intact to his children, whereas the same guy, in the identical house, 200 miles away, can leave it to his kids untouched. Yeah, I get your idea of fairness now.......
The only thing that can fairly be taxed is the monetary value of the taxed object. Price, revenue. That sort of thing. Poll taxes don't work because they violate that principle. Fairness is imposing a tax as a function of a clearly measurable monetary value. Adam Smith knew that. So should you.
 
The only thing that can fairly be taxed is the monetary value of the taxed object. Price, revenue. That sort of thing. Poll taxes don't work because they violate that principle. Fairness is imposing a tax as a function of a clearly measurable monetary value. Adam Smith knew that. So should you.

My question is that if a person has bought their house during their life from the salary of their work which was taxed as income tax, why should they pay an extra tax when they die?

This takes the adage of there being only two certain things in life, those being death and taxes, to an extreme.

I favour no inheritance tax - tax is/was paid during life.

As an aside, do companies pay taxes on assets?
 
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My question is that if a person has bought their house during their life from the salary of their work which was taxed as income tax, why should they pay an extra tax when they die?

This takes the adage of there being only two certain things in life, those being death and taxes, to an extreme.

I favour no inheritance tax - tax is/was paid during life.

As an aside, do companies pay taxes on assets?

And if I buy clothes/gasoline/alcohol with money I paid income tax on why should I pay VAT or excise duty?
No one has yet responded to my initial point, none of us will ever pay inheritance tax on our assets, some of us may pay it on someone else's should we choose to keep them. Why does this most voluntary of taxes create so much anger?
 
My question is that if a person has bought their house during their life from the salary of their work which was taxed as income tax, why should they pay an extra tax when they die?

Just to hammer this home, no one ever has paid, or ever will pay, in any nation on the face of God's earth, any tax after they are dead. It is not possible to do so.
 
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My question is that if a person has bought their house during their life from the salary of their work which was taxed as income tax, why should they pay an extra tax when they die?
They don't pay. They're dead. The heirs pay.

Then nothing I buy with my taxed income should be taxed, as pointed out. Nothing I inherit from the taxed estate of a deceased parent should be taxed. Wait ... Nothing I buy with income I inherited from the taxed income of a deceased parent should be taxed? Nothing I earn in wages paid from the taxed profits of an employer should be taxed?
 
Can I ask a question more on topic, what will the effects of the UKIP win be on the promises made about settling the West Lothian Question and preventing those MPs who are from areas with devolved parliaments or assemblies voting on issues which are already decided there.
 
The only thing that can fairly be taxed is the monetary value of the taxed object. Price, revenue. That sort of thing. Poll taxes don't work because they violate that principle. Fairness is imposing a tax as a function of a clearly measurable monetary value. Adam Smith knew that. So should you.

And you should stop with the patronising tone. There many good alternatives to the death duty question, as you should know.........not having it at all being one. That's fair to everyone, and is what I advocate. A reasonable alternative is to have it set with such a ceiling that it only catches the genuinely rich, say, £1,000,000 estates and above. Or if fairness is really what you seek (it clearly isn't with most here who only want it as a way of punishing people for being notionally better off than them), you could apply it universally (ie no lower limit), but at a much lower rate.......say 1% of the entire estate's value, rather than 40% of everything over £325,000 as at present.
 
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