Free to inherit but marriage is taxing

When I heard of the impending marriage between Dublin carer Michael O’Sullivan and his elderly male patient I enquired more. Apparently this union is to take place to allow the younger carer to inherit the property of the older partner, while legally avoiding inheritance tax. Before taking this step they should examine the many levies placed on married couples. Were I not married and living with my wife, I would not have to pay a TV licence fee, for example. There is also a living-alone allowance but no equivalent ‘living-together allowance’. And where two elderly siblings are living together, there is no opportunity equivalent to marriage whereby the survivor can inherit without facing a tax bill. Our State must remedy this unequal treatment.

Denis O’Higgins, Co. Monaghan.