Gransnet's Inheritance Tax survey

"Inheritance tax is a form of double taxation", say the over 50s. In partnership with our sister site, Mumsnet, we ran a survey to find out gransnetters' views on this controversial form of taxation. The results of the user survey show that 15% intend to spend everything before they die. Here's what else we found.

Our survey reveals that 73% consider Inheritance Tax to be a form of double taxation - and 42% think it should be abolished outright. 55% say they think inheritance tax should be applied only to estates with a value greater than £1 million, and 49% think the threshold should be increased to £2 million. 78% say that the house price boom has brought too many people into the inheritance tax bracket.

The survey of nearly 1000 users of Gransnet and Mumsnet aged over 50 also reveals that about one in seven - 15% - intend to spend all their money before they die, and 13% say they are actively gifting, donating and spending their money with the £375k inheritance tax threshold in mind.

Other insights from the survey include:

• 58% agree that 'people work hard to build up assets and wealth; passing that on to your children is a human impulse and the Government should stay out of it as much as possible'
• 32% agree that 'inheritance tax is an important mechanism for reducing inequality across society', while 49% disagree
• Just 4% think inheritance tax should be increased

• 93% say they owe it to their families to leave their financial affairs in good order.

Gransnet editor Lara Crisp said: "Contrary to the media myth of the selfish Baby Boomer, this generation haven't always had it easy. They've often scrimped and saved pretty hard for what they have, and the women struggled against sexism to build careers, brought up families decades before childcare help became a recognised political priority, and are now facing erratic changes to the qualifying age for state pensions.

"Many are giving away much of what they have to support their families, helping younger generations to look after children and get on the housing ladder. There's nothing selfish about them wanting to have some fun at the same time."

You can take an in-depth look at the data from our findings here.

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Images: Shutterstock