They may be about to lose their hereditary right to sit
in the Lords, but life’s not all bad. Todays young heirs can take consolation from their future fortunes – and their ability to avoid inheritance tax, says Kevin CahillOnce upon a time, each of the 30 heirs in our list might have hoped to add parliamentary power, by way of an unelected seat in the House of Lords, to their acres and fortunes. But the Blair axe will soon disconnect the richest group of people to be found in any one place in the country – hereditary peers in the House of Lords – from the power they have enjoyed for more than 700 years. Any separation from their money will be more difficult. Almost without exception, the wealth of the very rich is locked in trusts: legal entities which never die and which, crucially, do not attract inheritance tax. The young Lord Rothermere, for instance, excluded from this list because he has already inherited the money, owns more than 60 per cent of the Daily Mail and General Trust, which controls Associated Newspapers. The shares are held in a trust in Jersey. Because his father, who died last year, was a tax exile, no inheritance tax can be imposed on a fortune estimated at £1.5 billion. Had the fortune been in the hands of the sort of middle Englander so beloved of the Daily Mail, the tax man would have had £600 million to contribute to the nation’s health. Continue reading…
Source : theguardian.com
Read more…The elite
