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U.K. Inheritance Tax Hint Fuels Claims of Handouts for the Rich

U.K. Inheritance Tax Hint Fuels Claims of Handouts for the Rich

(Bloomberg) --

U.K. Inheritance Tax Hint Fuels Claims of Handouts for the Rich

U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid has hinted he is considering cutting inheritance tax. Doing away with the levy would cost almost 6 billion pounds ($7.4 billion) and critics point out that most of the benefit would go to a small number of wealthy households, many of them in London and southeast England. Just 2,050 estates worth over 2 million pounds were charged 965,000 pounds each on average in 2016-17, the latest year for which figures are available.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Atkinson in London at a.atkinson@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, David Goodman, Jill Ward

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