I still find myself 'looking over my shoulder' these days, wondering if our improved fortunes will end and we'll be back where we were, which was, in effect, working poverty. Struggling to pay basic bills, very rare holidays (and often only because friends effectively subbed us), reliant all too often on 'the copper jar': forget decent clothes – cheap stuff off the market, which only lasted a short time anyway.



I never, ever want to go back to that.



But I cannot fathom how some people don't realise that this is reality for many – or who actually and really believe that it's easy to job hop into vastly better pay.



At the risk of invoking Sal Paradise – what world do they inhabit?

The money should be given to "good causes." If kids know they are in line for good inheitances they often become lazy and useless, despite their expensive educations. If the spongers on benefits need to work to "improve themselves" to drive the economy forward surely even more so those who have had a priveleged education. I used to work with a really nice lad whose father was a very successful businessman. As soon as the lad struggled with an exam in his mid 20s he just gave up never to work again because he couldn't see the point. He'd inherited his first tranche of money at 21 which allowed him to buy a house in an expensive area and a brand new top of the range BMW and anything else he wanted. He was in line for a few 10s of million more so he decided to watch telly (rather than Hugh Grant in About a Boy).

The outlook of many in this country has to completely charge in my opinion. We begrudge people who work hard to earn a lot of money for themselves yet deem it perfectly acceptable for people who have done sod all to earn that money to inherit it. How about re-focusing our tax system to encourage people to keep what they themselves have earned and to remove assets from those who haven't?



I can understand people wanting to leave a parting present for their families, perhaps to pay for a car for their grandson or a bit of cash towards their Uni fees, but I just don't see why we allow people to inherit £100,000s.

Possibly because those who don't work don't tend to have any assets to remove.



Thats your first stumbling block right there.

100% Inheritance Tax would be political suicide for whoever was in.

They'd certainly lose the farming vote.

I've not problem with IHT at a reasonable rate - and at the moment it's fairly reasonable. And I have no problem with people finding loopholes in IHT - even if that means envelopes of £50 notes.



It's the 100% rubbish people are spouting that's ridiculous (I realise you didn't suggest it).

Who begrudges people working hard to earn a lot of money? I don't. Good luck to 'em.



But it's their money, it gets taxed, and it's theirs to do what they like with. If some kids end up inheriting millions what's the problem? It's not like they'll be a drain on resources, is it? If they choose to sit in a big house and party for the next 60 years, who cares? Meanwhile, many of the wealthy will actually go on to create or sustain businesses and jobs.



If it's the last will & testament of the deceased to pass on their wealth - money they have earned and paid tax on - why is it anyone else's business? Smells fishily of jealousy.

So you're suggesting no-one should be permitted to make a Will, and everyone's assets are to be seized at the moment of death?



If this lad truly decided to watch telly for the rest of his life, what business is that of yours? With millions in the bank he's not costing anyone anything is he? His choice to live an unproductive life is is sod all to do with anyone else other than a source of gossip and ill-disguised jealousy.



The whole concept of 100% IHT is a nonsense, and a laughable one at that.

I have no problem with people doing what they want. What I object to is the economic stagnation that results from inherited wealth. The classic family business is started by a hard-working driven bloke (usually). If the business is lucky his son carries it on but rarely do they get past silver spoon generation three. We are constantly told by our right wing politicians and media that we all need to work harder for the sake of the economy. That surely applies to all? If spoilt kids are incapable of pulling their weight in the economic war for survival then the state should take their wealth away to make them earn their way through work in the same way it expects the impoverished to work hard.

Psst you seem to have forgotten about VAT, Fuel duty,Tax on utilities etc.

You're forming an opinion based on heresay and...well, little else.



You're assuming all wealthy kids do naff all with their lives, when in my experience the opposite is true. Thanks to an accident of my location as a kid I know a lot of wealthy families and the majority of their kids have taken advantage of their, well, advantage, and have gone through the education system to its max, and are now occupying excellent jobs. Yes, many went the other way - many are in dead end jobs, some are in prison, some have realised the error of their ways and are now working to better themselves, but isn't that true of any sector of society?



And besides, I work to put food on the table and to provide a few luxuries. If a mysterious Aunt suddenly dumped several millions in my account, I'd jack in my job before you could say "Lee Briers lives in a caravan" and take as much time off as I wanted. Then I would use my wealth to fund an occupation I enjoyed. Perhaps I'd open a chain of restaurants. Or a couple of nice cosmopolitan bars to my tastes. Perhaps I'd try and dispose of my fortune and buy Salford. Whatever.



Most of us work because we have to. If we had the means not to, I'm sure many of us would ease off on the work front, or quit completely. And let's not tell idealistic porkies and pretend we wouldn't.