Rumours are rife that our hapless Chancellor is cooking up some very unpalatable recipes to plug the holes in her Budget bucket

The first rumour was about an Exit Tax to try to stem the torrent of some 16,000 non-dom millionaires fleeing these shores for more welcoming fiscal climes elsewhere in the world, which would be as effective as a ‘perforated male contraceptive device’!

The second rumour is about getting rid of the tax free seven-year gift allowance, which bypasses Inheritance Tax (IHT).  This would also be as useful as a ‘chocolate fireguard’ to the accident-prone government, since everyone would stop gifting assets to their children and therefore, no money would be raised as a result.  Yes, it would add to the IHT take in the end, but this could be in 10-20 years time and certainly not much use to an incompetent Chancellor, urgently trying to raise some emergency monies, to fill the £50billion hole in her autumn Budget. Continue reading