ABSTRACT
Reform of the United Kingdom death duties is long overdue; the weight of death duties should be reduced and a gift tax integrated with the death duty. To pursue the objective of equality, the form of duty should be changed from estate duty to inheritance tax and an accessions duty adopted—paid by the beneficiary on the cumulative total of legacies and gifts received throughout a life-time. This form of tax opens up some further possibilities. The basis of the accessions tax could be broadened into a capital receipts tax to include not only gifts and legacies but other non-income receipts. The acceptance of an accessions tax or a capital receipts tax, which requires life-time records of receipts by gifts and legacies, probably makes it easier to keep track of the more valuable asssets and to ensure.
