Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Inheritance Tax and other stuff
All this talk of scrapping inheritance tax got me thinking about a few things. With this blog being called Straight to the Point, I'll get straight to the point:-
1) Scrapping inheritance tax will just mean that the rich will get richer. Say you give your house to your kids after saving up over your lifetime. So your kids get a house for free, and probably have enough money (if they saved like you did) for another. So then they've got two houses to pass on to their kids. Where does it end?
2) I've often been curious who owns what buildings. Take Oxford Street in London for example. I'm only guessing here, but I imagine that most of those are rented. Who owns them? And how much do they charge? Probably a small fortune. SO is that why things cost so much in London - because the shops have to pay this extortionate rent to unknown individuals who probably own the land in London for historical reasons (handed down from generation to generation starting in the middle ages probably). They'll be getting richer and richer.
1) Scrapping inheritance tax will just mean that the rich will get richer. Say you give your house to your kids after saving up over your lifetime. So your kids get a house for free, and probably have enough money (if they saved like you did) for another. So then they've got two houses to pass on to their kids. Where does it end?
2) I've often been curious who owns what buildings. Take Oxford Street in London for example. I'm only guessing here, but I imagine that most of those are rented. Who owns them? And how much do they charge? Probably a small fortune. SO is that why things cost so much in London - because the shops have to pay this extortionate rent to unknown individuals who probably own the land in London for historical reasons (handed down from generation to generation starting in the middle ages probably). They'll be getting richer and richer.
