ABSTRACT
One form of inherited wealth is the benefit accruing under a policy of life insurance. Under the present British law, life insurance premiums, up to one-sixth of any person’s income, are exempt from income tax, but the benefit under the policy is liable to death duties. Under the scheme of inheritance taxation proposed in the preceding chapter, such benefit would only be liable to the second of our two taxes, and even if, as a result of a steepened graduation, the total yield of the British inheritance taxes was considerably increased, it is probable that many life insurance benefits would be less heavily taxed than they are now.
