Exploring Britain’s Most Controversial Tax: Inheritance Tax – Will the Government Scrap It? Join the This is Money Podcast

It’s been called the most hated tax in Britain – but only four per cent of people pay it.

You could be forgiven for thinking inheritance tax is something only the super-rich need to worry about.

But thanks to rising house prices and an increasing desire to transfer wealth between generations, more and more people are being drawn into the net.

It happens not only when someone is left property or other assets from someone’s estate, but also when they accept a gift from someone who passes away before the ‘seven year rule’ tax exemption kicks in.

The IFS says that that four per cent could become 12 per cent within a decade.

And many of those who will never pay it still hate the idea that the Government is taking a big cut of the wealth people have worked hard to build up over their lifetime.

So it might come as welcome news that Rishi Sunak is reported to be considering cutting inheritance tax, or even scrapping it altogether, as a potential vote-winner ahead of the next election.

What’s wrong with inheritance tax, how could it be made fairer – and could the Government really just get rid of it? Simon Lambert, Helen Crane and Georgie Frost discuss.

That’s not the only plan the Government is said to be hatching for our finances.

It’s also reported that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt wants to increase the £20,000 annual Isa allowance – but only for those who use it to invest money into companies listed on the ailing London Stock Exchange.

The team consider what puts people off stocks and shares Isas, whether the rules are too restrictive for the way we manage our money today, and whether encouraging people to pour money into a market which has had a bit of a tough time of late is a good idea.

Plus, it’s a year since the disastrous mini-Budget which rocked the mortgage market.

With a raft of mortgage rate reductions from big lenders this week, could rates on home loans finally be turning a corner now the base rate has been put on ice?

And finally, with the price cap going down this weekend, we discuss whether the time might finally have come to commit to a fixed rate on your energy bills.