(Newsweek) - King Charles III should pay inheritance tax on the late Queen Elizabeth II's personal fortune British people feel, according to the results of a new survey undertaken days after the new monarch's accession.
Reports that the king would not be expected to pay the 40 percent inheritance tax on any of the private property passed to him by his mother began to circulate immediately after her death, following the creation of a memorandum on royal taxation overseen by Elizabeth and the U.K. government in 1993.
In 2022, the queen's personal wealth was estimated to be around £370 million ($433 million) by Britain's Sunday Times.
This wealth is separate from the institutional property associated with the crown, such as the crown jewels, palaces and state land, the royal collection of artworks and income reserves connected with the sovereign grant.
The memorandum states that in the case of assets which can "properly be regarded as private" property of the monarch, "inheritance tax will not be paid on gifts or bequests from one sovereign to the next, but will be payable on gifts and bequests to anyone else."
This means anything left to Charles will be tax free, whereas inheritances left to any other member of the royal family will be subject to inheritance taxation, which in the U.K. is 40 percent of the value of bequests above £325,000 ($368,000).
A poll commissioned by Tax Justice U.K., an organization campaigning and advocating for a fair and sustainable tax system in Britain, has shown that 63 percent of respondents believe Charles should have to pay inheritance tax.
Undertaken by market research company YouGov, the poll also showed that just 16 percent of Brits asked felt that the king should be exempt from paying inheritance tax, while 21 percent responded that they did not know.
The justification for the special arrangements for the monarch made in the 1993 memorandum states that:
"The monarchy as an institution needs sufficient private resources to enable it to continue to perform its traditional role in national life, and to have a degree of financial independence from the government of the day."
A statement from Robert Palmer, of Tax Justice U.K. said of the poll results: "It's clear from this poll that the public believes King Charles should pay inheritance tax on the private wealth he will inherit as a result of the Queen passing away.
"The fact that the monarch pays no inheritance tax at all is just one example of how the tax system is designed so that the wealthy can pay low levels of tax.
"Politicians should be asking those who can afford it—including the very wealthy—to pay more in tax."
Graham Smith, CEO of Republic, an anti-monarchy campaign group, took a stronger line on the subject, previously telling Newsweek that the arrangement was a "disgrace."
"In short it's an absolute disgrace. There's no justification for it," he said.
"This has been the case for quite some time, that the monarch does not pay inheritance tax when they take the throne. There's absolutely no justification for allowing them to accumulate this enormous wealth."
"We just keep on throwing more money at them and they keep accumulating it while spending more of our money on their day-to-day costs," he continued.
"There needs to be a root-and-branch review of royal funding and they need to be brought into line with the same rules everyone else has to abide by."
The debate has been raised as Britain as inflation hit a 40-year high in July at 10.1 percent.
Charles came face-to-face with a member of the public complaining about the extravagance of the monarchy while Britain experiences a cost-of-living crisis during a walkabout in Wales last week.
While greeting a crowd of people, one man yelled: "Charles! While we struggle to heat our homes we have to pay for your parade. The taxpayer pays £100 million for you, and for what?"
So far there has been no official comment from Buckingham Palace following the death of the queen in relation to tax arrangements.
Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8 at her Scottish home of Balmoral Castle. In accordance with tradition, her son Charles became king upon the moment of her death.
Newsweek has approached Buckingham Palace for comment.
September 22, 2022
