‘Inheritance tax should be abolished’, says Treasury minister

The Government should abolish inheritance tax, a Treasury minister has told Conservatives this week.

Andrew Griffith, a City minister who works under Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, said that the death levy would be his top choice of taxes to scrap.

Mr Griffith told a Centre for Policy Studies event at the Conservative party conference on Monday: “I have lots of my fantastic local association [members] with me here and they will know because they asked me at my selection meeting 27 months ago which tax, if I had the choice, I would most like to see eliminated. History will record it was inheritance tax.”

All taxpayers have a personal IHT allowance – the nil-rate band – of £325,000, above which an estate is charged at a rate of 40pc. There are additional allowances for passing a family home to direct descendants worth £175,000.

Married couples and civil partners can combine their allowances, which means that many can pass on up to £1m tax free.

Prime Minister Liz Truss promised on her campaign trail that she would review the levy. Experts have urged the Government to raise both the main and residence nil-rate bands.

The thresholds have been frozen since 2009, forcing more and more grieving families to pay the duty as house prices climb. Last year, the Treasury raked in a record £6.1bn in inheritance tax, up 14pc compared with the previous year.

Under the current Government's plans, the IHT thresholds will remain frozen until 2026.

The average IHT bill on a liable estate will reach just over £266,000 this tax year, up 23pc compared with two years ago, according to the investment broker the Wealth Club.