Inheritance Tax: Fees Paid to Advisers (Hansard, 31 January 2005)

HL Deb 31 January 2005 vol 669 c21WA 21WA

§ Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay
asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their estimate of the annual amount of fees paid by United Kingdom taxpayers to accountants, solicitors and other professional advisers in order to minimise the amounts of inheritance tax payable. [HL927]

§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey
No data are available on which to base such an estimate. Costs of "pre-death tax planning" were estimated for 1986–87 at about 0.06 pence per pound collected (Sandfordet al, Administrative and Compliance Costs of Taxation, Fiscal Publications, 1989).