99+
Why Lewis Goodall is 100% Wrong on 100% Inheritance Tax
100% inheritance tax is legalised robbery - and a flawed premise that should be scrapped altogether
Aug 22, 2025
My colleague, the brilliant political commentator Lewis Goodall, and I usually get on famously and find plenty of shared perspectives. Yet, on the subject of inheritance tax, we stand at opposite ends of a chasm. His recent suggestion that inheritance tax should be set at 100% has left me not just in disagreement but genuinely outraged.
I respect Lewis immensely, and I know he was being provocative to make a point, but the sentiment behind it is one I simply can't accept. This idea, which is often couched in "progressive" and "radical" language, is nothing more than legalised robbery. It reveals a fundamental and deeply troubling belief held by some on the left: that the government has a better claim to an individual's hard-earned money than that individual's own family.
The argument for a high inheritance tax is based on a flawed premise. It claims to combat an "aristocracy of wealth" and create a fairer society. But what does that really mean? It means penalising success.
Most people who accumulate wealth do so through decades of hard work, risk-taking, and enterprise. They build companies, they create jobs, and throughout their lives, they pay an array of taxes—income tax, corporation tax, VAT, council tax, you name it.
After a lifetime of contributing to society, they are then expected to forfeit their remaining assets to the state, preventing them from passing on the fruits of their labour to their children. This isn't just an economic policy; it’s a moral failing. The notion that the government, which has no track record of being a prudent steward of public funds, can spend this money better than the people who earned it is absurd.
Inheritance tax at its current rate of 40% on estates over a certain threshold is already a criminal amount. Proposing to increase it to 100% is a step toward an authoritarian state where the government acts as a quasi-parent, controlling everything and leaving individuals with no say over their own property.
This isn't the kind of country I want to live in. It’s a path toward becoming Venezuela or Cuba, where personal wealth is anathema and the state is all-powerful.
Proponents of high inheritance tax often fail to grasp a simple truth, perfectly encapsulated in a quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln: "You don't make the poor richer by making the rich poorer."
Confiscating wealth from successful people and pretending the government will spend it wisely doesn't elevate those in poverty. Instead, it discourages ambition, penalises hard work, and erodes the very foundations of a free and prosperous society.
My position is clear: inheritance tax should be scrapped altogether. I recognise this isn't a politically viable option overnight, but it is a goal worth pursuing. There are other, more sensible ways to generate revenue, but seizing the life savings of people who have already paid their dues is not one of them.
This isn't just a tax policy debate; it's a debate about what kind of society we want to be. Do we believe in individual liberty and the right to pass on what you've earned, or do we believe the government has the ultimate say over our lives and our money? For me, the answer is simple.
The government has a duty to provide services, and we have a duty to pay our fair share of taxes. But pretending the government's claim to our money is greater than our own is a dangerous delusion, and one that must be rejected.