The British public are in favour of cutting or abolishing inheritance tax, a new poll has shown, as backlash over the government’s tax raid on family farms continues to grow.
Campaigners have said the survey should be a “reality check” for the government amid growing frustration over the decision to extend inheritance tax to agricultural properties.
The latest polling, conduced by Public First for the Taxpayers’ Alliance - a pressure group campaigning for a low-tax society - saw 55 per cent of people say they would support cutting or abolishing the tax, with almost half of respondents listing the tax as the most unfair out of a list of nine.
Asked “do you think the government should raise inheritance tax rates, cut inheritance tax rates, keep inheritance tax rates the same, or abolish inheritance tax all together?”, 27 per cent said it should be cut and 28 per cent said it should be abolished.
This compares to 21 per cent who say it should be kept the same and 10 per cent who said it should be increased.
Worryingly for Sir Keir Starmer, the figures were similar for 2024 Labour voters, with 48 per cent calling for the tax to be cut or abolished. Some 39 per cent think it should be kept or raised.
Looking at the question of family farms specifically, 56 per cent of 2024 Labour voters said inheritance tax should not be charged, compared with just 31 per cent who said it should.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, urged the government to “listen to the electorate that put them in office and scrap inheritance tax”.
"The British public clearly recognise that inheritance tax is an almost uniquely bad tax, given their unanimous support for cutting or abolishing it altogether”, he said.
“While there are certain reforms - such as lifting thresholds - that could ease some of the pain, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the only acceptable solution in the long term is complete abolition.
“Our political leaders now need to listen to the electorate that put them in office and scrap inheritance tax once and for all.”
Meanwhile, Mo Metcalf-Fisher, director of external affairs at the Countryside Alliance said the “damning new polling should serve as a reality check for Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves who continue to be in denial about the impact this unnecessary and divisive tax hike will have on our family farms”.
“Labour MPs, particularly in rural areas, need to demand a policy rethink now. It would be naïve for them to think this issue and the anger and hurt it has caused will go away”, he said.
On Monday, some of the UK’s largest retailers backed farmers in their fight against Ms Reeves’ inheritance tax raid, warning the “UK’s future food security is at stake”.
The calls have added to pressure on the chancellor to U-turn on her tax raid, which critics warn could sound the death knell for family farms in England.
But Treasury minister James Murray told MPs on Thursday that ministers would not give in to calls to pause and look again. He said the government was “committed to delivering the reforms announced at the Budget”, adding that it was a “fair approach” that would help to fix “the public services we all rely on”.
In a separate blow, a new report by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) warned the policy may raise less than the Treasury hopes, with the £500m-a year-revenue forecast given a high uncertainty rating and likely to fall after seven years as families use tax planning to avoid the charge.
The changes mean that farms valued at £1m or more would be liable for 20 per cent inheritance tax.
The Treasury says that, with tax allowances, in reality, only farms worth £3m would be affected, just 28 per cent of family farms. But official Defra figures appear to suggest as many as 66 per cent could be hit.
The polling, which was conducted between December 13 and 17 2024, spoke to 2,011 UK adults.
