Inheritance tax must be used to ‘ease intergenerational inequality’
Labour see the much-maligned inheritance tax as a way to redistribute wealth, a party frontbencher has claimed.
Darren Jones, the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, told a public meeting that funds from the levy should be used to address ‘intergenerational inequality’.
In the leaked recording, Mr Jones – who will be responsible for public expenditure if Labour wins the election – said there is a ‘bulk coming through the system of huge amounts of inherited wealth’.
Last night senior Tories said the remarks, first reported by The Daily Telegraph, showed the ‘cat’s out of the bag’ when it comes to the party’s plans on taxes.
Mr Jones is deputy to Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves, meaning he will wield power on taxation if Labour form a government on Friday.
Darren Jones (pictured), the shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, told a public meeting that funds from the levy should be used to address ‘intergenerational inequality’
At the meeting in Bristol in March, he said: ‘We’ve had a bit of a debate (on inheritance tax) in Westminster because there were some plans to abolish it… we didn’t think that was the right thing to do, because there was going to be this kind of bulk coming through the system of huge amounts of inherited wealth in our country, largely off the back of housing asset values.
‘For the intergenerational inequality point, we think it’s important that inheritance tax remains because it does allow you to get some of that value back in, to be able to redistribute across generations.’
Inheritance tax is currently charged at 40 per cent on the value of estates above £325,000.
Up to six per cent of estates are set to be subject to the levy by the end of the next Parliament.
British Chief Secretary to the Treasury Laura Trott pictured speaking at a press conference in June
Laura Trott, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said: ‘This is what we have been warning about and now the cat’s out of the bag. Labour are saying one thing before the election, but make no mistake – if they win, they will tax you, your home, your car, your pension.
‘Now we know where they plan to tax first.’
A Labour spokesman said: ‘This is total nonsense. Nothing in our plans requires any additional tax to be increased. We have set out fully costed, fully funded plans, with very specific tax loopholes we would close.
‘We have said very clearly that our interest isn’t in raising taxes – our priorities are economic growth and making working people better off.’
