Taxes are always contentious, perhaps none more so than inheritance tax (IHT) which provokes debate whenever the topic is raised. Largely unaltered for almost a generation, the UK now takes the highest proportion of inheritance taxes among large, developed economies.

Far from being seen as a fair and legitimate means of redistributing wealth, many regard it as unfair and out of date with the primary burden increasingly falling on the property-owning middle classes rather than the truly wealthy who invariably avoid IHT through a variety of mechanisms.