Neil MacGillivray: Better the IHT devil you know?

For a tax that makes up less than 1% of total tax and impacts on only 4% of estates, inheritance tax (IHT) receives a lot of attention - not to mention a lot of dislike from the general public. Research carried out by the Fabian Society in 2015 ranked IHT as the least popular form of taxation compared with 11 major taxes. The three reasons given for this were: it is negatively perceived as a tax on the dead and as double taxation on those who have earned and saved their wealth; the rate of 40% is seen as excessive; and it is seen as a voluntary tax which the wealthy and welladvised can e...