Prime Minister hints at inheritance tax cuts within upcoming Tory manifesto

Prime Minster David Cameron has suggested that the Conservative party could include proposals for a cut in inheritance tax within their upcoming election manifesto, which would mark a return to his previously abandoned policy pledge made back in 2007 which would have seen the threshold in which the tax would start being paid rise to £1 million, from £325,000.

Mr Cameron argued that a Conservative government would focus on lowering the tax burdens on property and assets left behind by deceased landowners, citing his belief in people being able to pass things down the generations and on to their children".

Previously, the Prime Minister had promised to increase the inheritance tax threshold back in 2007, when he was in opposition, though thus far the coalition administration has failed to even devise proposals for its implementation, despite being in power for almost four years. 

At the time, both he and current Chancellor George Osborne pledged to change the inheritance tax system so that only millionaires would be obliged to pay it, in a widely popular announcement that was thought to be a buffer against then Prime Minister Gordon Brown calling a snap election to concretise his tenure in Downing Street.

When Mr Cameron ascended to power in 2010, he was forced to publically renege on his previous inheritance tax, identifying that it was not viable for him to implement such a policy at the time, and instead focused his intention to lowering income tax contributions. 

However, with the 2015 General Election now rapidly approaching, the Prime Minister has signalled his desire to revive the policy, and has pledged to consider its implementation into the Tory manifesto set for release later on this year. 

"Would I like to go further in future? Yes, I would. I believe in people being able to pass money down through the generations and pass things on to their children. I think you build a stronger society," Mr Cameron argued, making a speech in Brighton earlier this week.

 

"Inheritance tax should only be paid for by the rich. It shouldn't be paid for by people who have worked hard and saved, and bought a family house in, say, Peacehaven. So the ambition is still there and I would like to go further. It's better than it was, but it didn't make it into the coalition agreement. It's something we will have to address in our manifesto."

However, the proposed policies passage will likely be faced with a number of obstacles if it is to be officially instigated, with the Prime Ministerís health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, announcing last year that the government had officially frozen the threshold in which inheritance tax becomes payable till 2019, in order to subsidise the costs of the pensioner care programme that entitles users to £75,000. 

It means that any new proposals about the future of inheritance tax before 2010 would likely culminate in a complete reform of the governmentís current social care funding arrangement, which had already taken a great deal of time to compose and instigate.