Halifax has called upon the Government to raise inheritance tax in line with house price inflation.

The bank calculates that inheritance tax would stand at £430,000, instead of the current £285,000, had it risen in-line with house price rises.

Inheritance tax revenue in the first half of 2006 was up 13% to a record £1.7bn, which is more than the total amount of inheritance tax collected during the whole of the 1997-98 financial year.
Tim Crawford, group economist at Halifax, said: "Inheritance tax revenues are clearly on the rise and the £1.7 billion collected in the first half of this year matches the total inheritance tax from the whole of the financial year in 1997-98.

"Inheritance tax revenues have risen because the threshold for the tax has failed to keep pace with the rise in property prices over the past ten years. More and more homes are being valued above the threshold and more estates are now potentially liable for the tax."