Be Careful Where You Die

Common sense you surely needn't look for in the European inheritance tax labyrinth, demonstrated this week by the latest twist in the French/Swiss farrago. I'm not even going to try to opine on the combatants' positions. It's obvious to everyone (me, that is) that inheritance tax ought to be abolished. It's immoral to tax money that has already been taxed; and it's doubly immoral to get in the way of inter-generational transfers. The relationship between parents and children is fraught enough already without government stepping between them. Of course it cuts in all sorts of unexpected directions: Joe hopes that his Dad's first wife, Isobel, dies before his Dad does (bad); but he hopes that his Dad outlives her (good); but his step-sister Madeleine is conflicted because she stands to get more through her mother's will than directly from her … Read More »