HC Deb 27 February 2004 vol 418 cc594-5W
Mr. Keith Simpson

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue was raised through inheritance tax in each of the last 20 years. [156780]

Dawn Primarolo

Receipts of Inheritance Tax (including Capital Transfer Tax where appropriate) for 1983–84 to 2002–03 are published in Table 1.2 of Inland Revenue Statistics at the following website: www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/tax_receipts.

Mr. Keith Simpson

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will list the changes in inheritance tax thresholds where the limit had been uplifted by inflation since 1997; [156795]

(2) if he will list the changes in inheritance tax thresholds since 1974. [156796]

Dawn Primarolo

Inheritance Tax Thresholds since the financial year 1988–89 are shown in the following table.

Lower limit of slice of chargeable capital (£000)
Rates of tax—40%
15 March 1988 to 5 April 1989 110
6 April 1989 to 5 April 1990 118
6 April 1990 to 5 April 1991 128
6 April 1991 to 9 March 1992 140
10 March 1992 to 5 April 1995 150
6 April 1995 to 5 April 1996 154
6 April 1996 to 5 April 1997 200
6 April 1997 to 5 April 1998 215
6 April 1998 to 5 April 1999 223
6 April 1999 to 5 April 2000 231
6 April 2000 to 5 April 2001 234
6 April 2001 to 5 April 2002 242
6 April 2002 to 5 April 2003 250
From 6 April 2003 255

Prior to 1988–89, different rates of tax were charged in respect of multiple thresholds. Details of all chargeable tax bands relating to Inheritance Tax and its predecessors from November 1974 to March 1988 are given in Appendix A.6, page 99, of Inland Revenue Statistics 1987, a copy of which is available in the Library.

Since 1997–98, the threshold has been indexed by the rate of inflation in each year except for 2002–03, when the indexed threshold would have been £247,000 rather than £250,000.