Inheritance Tax Cut Would Push Up House Prices

David Cameron’s plan to lower inheritance tax and compensate for it by increasing tax on the pensions of the wealthiest was described as being likely to complicate the system and raise house prices.  The prime minister promised to raise the inheritance-tax threshold for couples to £1 million with an additional £175,000 allowance for each partner when leaving their primary residence to their heirs.  The proposal was attacked by Paul Johnson, director of the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies as likely to push more money into housing. “It is rather odd to give this special treatment to housing, given that owner-occupied housing is already extremely tax privileged,” Johnson told the BBC. “Anything that does something like this, which increases the tax privilege associated with an asset like housing will drive the price up in the long run.” Read more on the Bloomberg Business website.