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New fellow
Warmest congratulations to Mark Lee who has been admitted as a fellow to the Chartered Institute of Taxation. Mark was invited to submit a body of work in lieu of a thesis; he did so and was accepted in the summer.
Mark is also a member of Taxation's editorial board. His fellow members are Robert Jamieson, Francesca Lagerberg, Simon McKie, Robert Maas, Anne Redston, Kevin Slevin, Michael Stern, John Tallon QC, Mike Thexton and Peter Vaines. Many thanks to all members of the board for their sterling work over the last year.
IHT catches more
3.6 million people will be liable to pay inheritance tax by 2009 according to research carried out by Grant Thornton and economists Lombard Street Research. This is a 70% increase from 2002, the last year full data was available.
Given that the inheritance tax threshold will be increased to £300,000 in 2007 and assuming that in 2008 and 2009 the threshold will be raised in line with CPI inflation, which, in turn, the research assumes will be held at the Bank of England's mandated target of 2%, this gives a threshold in 2009 of £312,000.
Ian Johnson, head of private client services at Grant Thornton, said that, 'since the present Government came to office, IHT receipts have more than doubled despite there being no change to the IHT rate'.
Mike Warburton, senior tax partner at Grant Thornton, added, 'Given asset price inflation and the UK demographics, in ten to 20 years when the post-war baby boom generation begins to pass away, without reform IHT could become a hugely significant revenue stream for the Treasury'. He hopes that the research will encourage debate on IHT which neither the Government nor the opposition parties have seriously addressed.
The report, 'An analysis of UK inheritance tax and its changing dynamic' is a available from Grant Thornton, www.grantthornton.co.uk.
