You tell MPs: scrap this cruel death tax hike
Death tax trap that could cost families thousands Money Mail, March 22
THE Government faces a major backlash over plans to introduce a new stealth death tax.
Furious constituents are bombarding their MPs with letters and threatening to stop voting Conservative unless there is a U-turn.
In February, the Government confirmed plans to hike the cost of applying for probate, the legal authority to take control of a loved one’s finances when they die.
Currently, there is a set fee of £215 for a personal application — or £155 if you apply through a solicitor.
But from May, fees will be linked to the value of the estate. The fee will be £300 for estates worth £50,000 to £300,000. Then it will be £1,000 for estates worth up to £500,000; and £4,000 for estates worth between £500,000 and £1 million.
The fee eventually reaches £20,000 for estates above £2 million.
Soaring house prices in the South mean many families with little more than a modest three-bedroom home will face extra charges.
Small print in the Budget revealed the Treasury expects to pocket £1.5 billion from the hikes over the next five years. It has been reclassified as a ‘tax’, rather than a charge.
Simon Newell, 61, of Sidmouth, Devon, wrote a letter to his MP, Sir Hugo Swire, saying: ‘As one of your constituents and electors, I am writing to express my grave concern over the proposed level of probate fees soon to be introduced by your Government.
‘On my modest, self-built estate, the fee increases from £200 to £4,000, a 20-fold increase. The nature of these fees, reclassified as taxes, is just a revenue raising exercise. Should they be brought in, I won’t be voting Conservative at the next election.’ Many readers have told Money Mail that they had no idea probate fees were increasing until they read about it in this paper.
Some banks and building societies allow family members to access modest sums of money without applying for probate. But if your loved one has a propertyp or larger amounts in savingss and investments, there is no avoiding it. Celia Ennis wrote to Andrew Jones,J her MP for the Harrogate area in North Yorkshire, saying: ‘If the Government is determined to increase taxes on estates and in such a way that justju £1 over the top of a band results in an increased tax of several thousand pounds, it should do so openly and honestly. ‘The only reason there have not been many more complaints about this new tax is that, because of the sneaky way it has been introduced, not many people know about it. Could you please do what you can to stop these new fees from coming into effect?’
Ann Russell, 72, voices concerns, too, that the information seems to have been ‘secreted away’.
In a letter to Liz Frazer, MP for South East Cambridgeshire, Ann says: ‘In the South, we are fortunate to live in an area where properties are higher in value, but some of us who are “property rich” often find there will not be an excess of cash to settle outstanding bills, including probate fees.
‘I have been a lifetime supporter of the Conservative Party but, unless something is done to reduce this unfair and unjustifiable tax, I will be reluctant to use my vote in the next general election.’ Allan Waller wrote to Richard Benyon, MP for Newbury, saying: ‘If the increase was to cover the costs of the Probate Office alone, a fixed fee for more complicated probates would be understandable, but the new fees are, without any doubt, a stealth tax to increase the revenue for your Treasury.
‘Please ask the Treasury how they intend to spend this £1.5 billion windfall because it is not going to the Probate Office.’
An online petition calling for the probate fee hike to be scrapped has more than 21,000 signatures.
If it reaches 100,000, the issue will be considered for debate in Parliament. You can sign online at: petition. parliament. uk/ petitions/188175
A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice says: ‘We will introduce a fairer system, meaning more than half of estates pay nothing and more than 90 pc pay less than £1,000.’