Comment by comrade1234

Farmers with active farms have not been paying inheritance tax and won't until 2026, and even then there are ways to avoid most of it (couples can pass on £3 million without tax for example). See https://www.gov.uk/government/news/what-are-the-changes-to-a...

The other side of the coin is that inheritance is allowed at all. We could tax at 100% above a certain threshold, wealth only exists because it is permitted through the recognition of property rights. 40% is arguably more than reasonable when you’re desiring to transfer generational power the beneficiary did not earn, but simply was lucky to be in the right lineage. It is a lottery ticket.

The 40% only applies to the portion of the estate that exceeds the tax-free threshold, which is currently £325K. If you leave your home to your children or grandchildren, that can be raised to £500K, and if you leave it to your spouse, it increases to £650K.

There are also ways to reduce the tax rate, like through charitable donations.

Like in the US with estate taxes, relatively few people are affected by it.

It's 40% above a threshold; the trouble is that the threshold is laughably tiny when you compare it to house prices.

It's also relatively easily defeated by transferring assets to others well in advance of your death, which is the kind of thing very wealthy people are more likely to be able to arrange.

Very unmeritocratic society if you can just win by inheriting half of 20 billion dollars.