No taxation without respiration?

Inheritance tax is a low-yield, high-stress levy on the ordinary citizen. Maybe it’s time for another look at the system

The tax system has a tendency to be dispassionate. Most tax issues are in black and white, with few enough shades of grey in the routine which occupies most tax compliance work.

Inheritance tax, though, is different. It is charged at a time when people are often vulnerable following a bereavement and thus can be a source of disproportionate worry. Timing aside, any nation as sensitive to property rights as we are will ...