Blitz Bureau
Experts say the growing disparity in wealth accumulation was one reason why there is a call for an inheritance tax.
Saul Eslake, an independent economist, says the case for such a tax was particularly compelling given that “when you consider about $5.5tn of wealth will be passed from boomers to their kids over the next 25-30 years, and most of those ‘kids’ will be in their 50s and 60s when they get it”.
“I don’t think it’s at all unreasonable that some of that is taxed on estates of $5m or $10m, with exemptions for surviving spouses or partners. If instead of stamp duty [on property transactions] we had a broadly based land tax, that would do some of it as well.”
