Recursion theory and the ‘death tax’

Since the 2016 US federal election, political actors have weaponized online fake news as a means of gaining electoral advantage (Egelhofer and Lecheler 2019). To advance understandings of the actors and methods involved in perpetuating fake news, this article focuses on an Australian story that circulated on and offline through different discourses during the 2019 federal election. We use content analyses of 100,000 media articles and eight million Facebook posts to trace false claims that the centre-left Labor party would introduce an inheritance tax dubbed a ‘death tax’ if it won office. To understand this evolution of ‘death tax’ discourse on and offline – and its weaponization by various actors – we draw from existing theorems of agenda setting, backfire effects, and propose our own recursion theory.

Wealth Transfers and Net Wealth at Death: Evidence from the Italian Inheritance Tax Records 1995–2016

In this paper we describe a novel source of data on the full record of inheritance tax files in Italy, covering up to 63% of total deceased. The work documents a substantial rise in the total value of inheritance and gifts as a share of national income, from 8.4% in 1995 to 15.1% in 2016. Consistent with the increasing role of total personal net wealth in the economy, the weight of inheritance and gifts in Italy appears relatively high by international standards. Over the same period, total wealth left at death has also become increasingly concentrated. The estates valued at least €1 million were worth 18.7% of total estate in the mid 1990s and 24.8% in 2016. This paper also documents that revenues collected from the inheritance tax underwent a threefold decline from 0.15% to 0.05% of total tax revenue between 1995 and 2016. Data also allow a disaggregated analysis by demographic and geographic characteristics. Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality Working Paper)

14. Application for a grant of representation

This chapter discusses the law and procedure relating to the issue of a grant of representation to the personal representatives of someone who has died. It considers the nature, effect, and the principal types of grant; the position of the personal representatives; the responsibilities of solicitors instructed to act in the administration of an estate; obtaining the grant; the court’s requirements; the Probate Application; HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) requirements; excepted estates; Form IHT 400 and its Schedules; and the calculation of inheritance tax (IHT).

7. Inheritance tax

This chapter deals with inheritance tax (IHT). It explains the charge to IHT; potentially exempt transfers (PETs); the transfer of value on death; the occasions to tax; the charge to tax and a lifetime chargeable transfer (LCT); the charge to tax and a LCT where the transferor dies within seven years of the LCT; the charge to tax and a PET; the charge to tax and death; gifts subject to a reservation; liability, burden, and payment of tax; and tax planning.

11. Taxation of trusts and settlements

Settlements may be created by settlors in their lifetime, or by will, or they may arise under the intestacy rules. This chapter considers the tax implications of such settlements from the perspective of both the trustees and the beneficiaries. It considers each of the three main taxes separately: inheritance tax, capital gains tax, and income tax.