“It’s a bad tax for rich people yes Jacob."
Multi-millionaire Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has been ridiculed online for claiming that scrapping inheritance tax will ‘drive Britain into the next century’.
Rees-Mogg is among a number of Tory MPs who have been pushing to cut inheritance tax, even though the tax is only paid by around 4% of estates and abolishing it would cost £7 billion.
Speaking on his GB News show, the Tory politician warned that inheritance tax has “economic consequences” which undermine “progress and investment”.
He told viewers: “It’s a bad tax… it raises comparatively little money, and has a knock-on economic effect, for a low amount of tax, which is the definition of an inefficient form of taxation!”
It’s worth pointing out that the IFS showed that the wealthiest 1 per cent would get half the benefit of scrapping inheritance tax, with an average tax cut of £1 million.
Reacting to Rees-Mogg’s comments, one social media user wrote: “Can’t imagine why Jakey would be in favour of abolishing a tax paid by only the super wealthy.
“It’s almost as if he might be a beneficiary.”
Another person posted on X: “It’s a bad tax for rich people yes Jacob.
“How’s your investment company doing in the Cayman Islands by the way?”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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