Death by a Thousand Thresholds: Labour's Inheritance Tax Squeeze Is Targeting the Middle Class
Labour's autumn 2024 Budget did not announce a dramatic overhaul of inheritance tax — it did something more insidious. By extending the freeze on nil-rate thresholds, tightening reliefs for agricultural and business property, and raising capital gains tax on estate assets, the Chancellor has engineered a stealth expansion of death duties that will fall hardest on families who built modest wealth through decades of work and saving. This is not a tax on the rich. It is a tax on aspiration.