Most voters against slashing inheritance tax for richest, poll shows

27 September 2023 , 23:01

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The PM refused to deny he was considering a cut to the levy (Image: Getty Images)

Most voters believe it would be a mistake for Rishi Sunak to hand the country’s richest extra wealth by slashing inheritance tax.

The Prime Minister is considering reducing the levy or ditching it altogether in a desperate bid to win voters at the next election. The levy was only paid by 4% of estates in 2021, with couples able to hand up to £1million to their children without paying a penny.

A poll shows the majority (60%) believe those over this threshold should continue to pay the same or be taxed more. According to the survey, commissioned by the Trades Union Congress, just 20% believe they should pay less in inheritance tax.

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “Nothing works in this country anymore. But instead of getting on with fixing our public services, the Conservatives are considering a tax giveaway to millionaires." He said scrapping the charge would be a "huge tax cut for a very small, very wealthy minority" and "drain £7bn from the public purse each year."

Mr Nowak added: “Slashing it would be reckless in the extreme and an act of levelling down. It’s no surprise that a clear majority of the public oppose lower inheritance tax thresholds and instead want the wealthiest to pay their fair share."

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"At a time when our NHS is on its knees, school buildings are crumbling and runaway inequality is blighting every corner of the country, the last thing we need is an unfunded tax cut for the wealthiest. The Conservatives have broken Britain, and they seem hell-bent on making things even worse. It's time for a reset. We need an economy that rewards work, not wealth."

Quizzed earlier this week on inheritance tax, Mr Sunak refused to rule out scrapping the charge after a Cabinet minister labeled it "punitive". The Tory leader said he would "never comment on tax speculation, of which there is always plenty".

He added: "What I would say is that the most important tax cut I can deliver for the British people is to halve inflation. "It is inflation that is putting up prices of things, inflation that is eating into people's savings and making them feel poorer - and the quicker we get inflation down, the better for everybody.

It comes after the Institute for Fiscal Studies said the wealthiest 1% would get half the benefit of abolishing the tax. Opinium interviewed 2,085 adults in the UK between 23 and 25 August on behalf of the TUC.

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Ashley Cowburn