Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential distributional impact of reducing inheritance tax; and what proportion of the financial benefit of such a reduction would accrue to households in each (a) income and (b) wealth decile.

The combination of nil-rate bands, exemptions, and reliefs means less than 10 per cent of estates across the UK are currently forecast to have an inheritance tax liability in 2030-31. Inheritance tax makes an important contribution to the public finances and it is forecast to raise more than £14 billion in 2030-31 to help fund public services.

The latest available statistics are available at www.gov.uk/government/statistics/inheritance-tax-liabilities-statistics.

The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events, and does not routinely comment on proposals.