See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy DAVID WILCOCK, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 09:15 BST, 28 June 2026 | Updated: 09:53 BST, 28 June 2026
A senior Labour ally of Andy Burnham has called for grieving families to be hit with tougher 'death taxes' under a major revamp of the system.Louise Haigh, the former transport secretary who is in line for a senior Cabinet post if he becomes prime minister, called for reform of the system to strip out 'exemptions and reliefs' on inherited wealth.The Sheffield Heeley MP, who ran Burnham's Makerfield by-election campaign, lashed out at the whole tax system, saying it was stacked against people who work for a living. Writing for the journal Renewal she demanded changes to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) rates to align them with income tax to make it harder for people to reduce their tax payments.She also attacked the CGT 'uplift' which reduces the tax paid when someone dies. 'The taxation of inherited wealth raises important questions of intergenerational fairness,' she said.'The current system is characterised by numerous exemptions and reliefs, limiting its effectiveness and perceived legitimacy in the eyes of the public.'At a minimum, reforms should address specific loopholes, such as the Capital Gains Tax uplift at death, which allows unrealised gains to escape taxation entirely.'But it came as a senior Starmer Cabinet minister suggested Mr Burnham would have to stick to the current regime's economic framework if or when he takes power. Louise Haigh, pictured left in claret with Andy Burnham last week, called for reform of the tax system to strip out 'exemptions and reliefs' on inherited wealth But Steve Reed told Sky News that under Burnham there would be 'changes of emphasis' but the 'fundamentals' would remain, including the fiscal rulesJoin the discussionShould families be forced to pay more tax on inherited wealth, or is this an unfair penalty on grief?What's your view?The would-be premier is due to give a major speech about his economic plans on Monday and Housing Secretary Steve Reed told Sky News' Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips while there would be 'changes of emphasis' the 'fundamentals' would remain, including the fiscal rules. He added: 'The vast majority of my colleagues, myself included, want Andy Burnham to take over as the new prime minister, and I expect that will happen in fairly short order.'He said the transition should be 'orderly,' adding: 'The public do not want a general election, and that's not just my instinct. You can look at the polls that tell us the vast majority do not. They want us to get on with the job.' Ms Haigh criticsed the CGT uplift, which effectively cancels any outstanding bill when someone dies.It means someone inheriting an asset is treated as acquiring it at its market value on the date of death, rather than the amount it was bought for.Removing it would hand families a major new bill as they try to death with the financial aftermath of a death.The Office of Tax Simplification, an independent arm of the Treasury, has urged the Government to tackle the 'incoherent and distortionary' way that CGT and inheritance tax interact.Ms Haigh also called for rates brought closer to income tax, saying the current difference between the two 'creates incentives for individuals to shift income into lower-taxed forms, effectively lowering the rates they pay on money they earn'.She also used her article to repeat past calls for 'regressive' council tax to be cut and stamp duty to be abolished and replaced with a property and land tax, a move critics have said would lead to higher rates for bigger homes. She admitted that her plans would 'create identifiable losers, even where they generate broader gains for the wider economy', especially when it came to domestic housing.She went on to call for changes to VAT thresholds, saying they acted as a bar to firms growing.
