Burnham’s ‘death tax’ could cost families £76,000 (Image: Getty)
Grieving British families may be hit with an average bill of £76,000 should Andy Burnham introduce a death tax to pay for his sweeping social care reforms.
Analysis has revealed the tax could take away tens of thousands of pounds from family inheritances upon the death of a relative.
The new Prime Minister has supported the controversial levy for much of his political career and has failed to directly rule out imposing it now he is in No10 Downing Street.
The new analysis of the financial impact of a death tax on grieving families was carried out by Reform UK.
Speaking exclusively to the Sunday Express, party leader Nigel Farage warned: “Andy Burnham still refuses to rule out a death tax.
“Unlike inheritance tax, this will indiscriminately affect every single family up and down the country with no exception and punish people at their lowest point.
“Now it turns out that his plans, which he will implement with no mandate, will hit families in Labour constituencies with a £76,000 bill. Reform will fight it every step of the way.”
Mr Burnham has made reforming the social care system a key pillar of his premiership, and has suggested the creation of a National Care Service.
Yet when serving as health secretary under Gordon Brown he proposed slapping a 10% charge on all inheritances.
When approached by this newspaper, the Labour Party did not rule out the so-called death tax.
Its spokesperson said: “With Andy Burnham’s leadership, the Labour Government will finally confront the social care crisis Westminster has ignored for decades, giving people dignity, security and support while easing pressure on the NHS.
“We won’t fix this through politics as usual, but by focusing on problem solving rather than point scoring.”
Current rules around inheritance carry certain exemptions. Married couples, for example, can give up to £1million of assets to their children, without paying the tax.
Mr Burnham said when running for the Makerfield by-election that he would “look at all of the kind of implications” around inheritance tax and social care.
This new analysis, seen by the Sunday Express, found the 357 constituencies in England won by Labour at the 2024 general election could face an average charge of £76,196.
Researchers used the median house price in each MPs constituency, combined with statistics on the ratio property wealth to household wealth.
From that they were able to estimate how much a death tax levy could end up charging the average household in each seat.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “A 10% levy would be a staggering raid on households.
“These figures show how quickly these kinds of taxes move from slogans about fixing funding in social care to bills landing on ordinary family homes.
“The Prime Minister should stop flirting with this idea and focus on cutting spending and easing the burden on taxpayers.”
Conservative Shadow Chancellor, Sir Mel Stride, said: “As Kemi set out in her letter to the Prime Minister, the Conservatives would be happy to work with the Government.
“But a new system has to be fair to those who have saved, and it can’t be funded by more taxes or more borrowing.
“Labour have already increased spending by over £150billion a year this parliament, funded through higher taxes and more borrowing. Britain does not need another tax.
“Only the Conservatives have set out a plan for £50billion in savings to cut taxes, reduce borrowing and build a stronger economy and a stronger country.”
A government spokesman said there “are no plans” for a death tax, adding: “Fixing our social care system will require building a broad consensus.
“The old way of doing politics has held up social care reform for decades.”
Yet Robert Jenrick, a Reform MP who railed against the unfairness of the death tax, took aim at the new Prime Minister by saying: “Andy Burnham’s death tax would make a mockery of his so-called Makerfield test.
“The average nurse in Makerfield could be saddled with a £30,000 bill after her passing if Burnham proceeds with this. How can he defend that?”
He repeated his calls that benefits should be axed, foreign aid to rich countries ended, and illegal migration brought under control as ways to save the Government money.
Mr Jenrick added: “A universal death tax would leave Britons the most heavily taxed people after death in the entire Western world, robbing people’s children and grandchildren of their inheritance.”
He said his party believed “a family’s home is a legacy, not a revenue stream.”
Joanna Marchong, of the think tank Onward, said: “A 10% levy on estates would raise barely a third of what it needs to – scrapping inheritance tax and funding free personal care costs up to £21 billion a year, and his levy raises £6 billion. That’s a £14 billion hole in his flagship policy alone.”