The Burden sisters could not have won their case without unravelling some of the fundamentals of the tax system, says Julian Washington
Sybil and Joyce Burden are aged 82 and 90 respectively. They are sisters, both unmarried, and live together in a family home near Marlborough, Wiltshire, which was built on a piece of land inherited from their parents. Every year since 1976 they have written to the chancellor of the exchequer before each budget about a tax problem and asked for the rules to be changed.
The essence of their problem is that, unlike in the case of spouses, where there is generally complete exemption from inheritance tax on the first death, no such exemption will be available when Joyce or Sybil dies. In all likelihood this will cause the survivor to have to sell the house in order to fund the tax bill. As for many people, the greatest part of their wealth is in bricks and mortar; they do not have enough liquid assets to pay the tax when the first of them dies.
The sisters' letters to
