Inheritance tax. WTF is the matter with this bullshit?

Posted by SmurfSmacker@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 207 comments

Seriously, what the fuck. I would like to make it clear that I personally, am not due an inheritance, but a friend of mine is. So let me get this straight… My friends’ parents’ estate (a house, savings and 3 cars) are all fully paid off. They worked their entire lives for this, for the things they own and also to leave their kids the best they could. The remainder of their pensions apparently goes straight to the government as well. They paid tax on their income their whole lives. They paid tax when they earnt anything, bought anything, and paid tax for interest on their savings. Now, when they die, (he only has one parent left), the government is going to say, “yes it’s sad your parents are dead; now give us 47% of the value of the things they own”. How the fuck does this make sense? Have I overlooked anything here? I have told her to get in contact with a solicitor, and a financial specialist (manager?) to see what’s what and how to minimise the tax that she would be liable for. I only ask, as from the outside, this looks like a massive fuck you from the UK government. Sorry for the rant, but I just could not believe it when she called me earlier.