Sisters lose European tax battle

[4me2]

Sisters lose European tax battle


The Burden sisters have been fighting their case for years



Two elderly British sisters have lost their final battle to avoid paying a massive inheritance tax bill.
Joyce and Sybil Burden, aged 90 and 82 respectively, have lived together in Wiltshire all their lives.
The sisters appealed to the European Court to enjoy the same tax rights as married and gay couples, which do not apply to cohabiting siblings.
In a 15-2 vote, Human Rights judges in Strasbourg ruled they do not face unfair discrimination.
But the Grand Chamber of the court upheld an earlier human rights ruling that national governments were entitled to some discretion when deciding taxation arrangements.
If we were lesbians we would have all the rights in the world


Joyce Burden


The decision, a major blow to the sisters, means when one of them dies the other will have to sell their £875,000 four-bedroom property in Marlborough to pay the 40% inheritance tax on its value above £300,000.
Since 1976, the sisters have written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer the day before every Budget, pleading for recognition under the tax rules as a cohabiting couple.
When the UK Civil Partnership Act of 2004 first recognised gay and lesbian couples for inheritance tax purposes, the sisters turned to the European Court of Human Rights.
They argued that the Act violated Human Rights Convention articles outlawing discrimination and guaranteeing the "protection of property".
'Fundamentally different'
In 2006, the Burdens lost the case by a 4-3 majority, although three members of the court described their inheritance tax plight as "awful" and "particularly striking".
But the appeal hearing on Tuesday, before a larger panel, produced a more decisive 15-2 majority against the sisters.
The judgment said: "The absence of such a legally-binding agreement between the applicants (the Burdens) rendered their relationship of co-habitation, despite its long duration, fundamentally different to that of a married or civil partnership couple."
The ruling marks the end of the road for the sisters' legal bid.
After losing the first human rights case in 2006, Joyce Burden commented: "If we were lesbians we would have all the rights in the world. But we are sisters, and it seems we have no rights at all." Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Inheritance tax is an unjust and unfair levy that hits bereaved families when they are at their most vulnerable. "Whilst these brave sisters have lost this battle, the strength of public opposition to inheritance tax is growing all the time and we are getting closer to winning the war and abolishing it altogether."



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/w...re/7372555.stm

[petey85]

Well rules are rules. If you make new rules for every set of individual circumstances, then the government and red tape get even more expansive than they are already.
Plus, oh no, the survivor will only have £650,000 left, plus cash savings...or could just get a mortgage.
It could be a lot worse, if Gordon hadn't been forced to stop being so sh*t about inheritance tax.

Solution: Don't vote Labour ever EVER again, anyone. Seriously, why do people do it?

[BertRoot]

Am sorry but they have no kids between them so what will happen when they both peg it? Who will get the cash they have accrued then? Doesn't fucking matter a shite really.

[yankee]

government should have some mercy really, but i guess the law cannot be changed for two sisters. the lesbian point is fair though.. what makes them any different to lesbians.. they both love each other.

[super mike]

government should have some mercy really, but i guess the law cannot be changed for two sisters. the lesbian point is fair though.. what makes them any different to lesbians.. they both love each other.

Don't make the videos, do they?

[crazyadi]

Am sorry but they have no kids between them so what will happen when they both peg it? Who will get the cash they have accrued then? Doesn't fu(king matter a shite really.

probably the cats!!

[Goldberg]

Just pay the bill! The rest of us would have to!

[Thrush]

inheritance tax is disgusting, bloody government.

[BertRoot]

Yeah I agree it is bad but why the fuck should two old women who are probably virgins dodge it when all and sundry else have to pay it. Says nothing about how they gained the property and in reality it is probably an inheritance from their parents and therefore unlikely that they have ever paid for the damn thing physically themselves.

Shut your whining and downsize to two houses under the 300k limit, makes sense and still have over a quarter of a mill change.

[Freddy]

or could just get a mortgage.

Might get turned down what with being 82 and 90

Inheritance tax is a cunts tax. Your dad, for example, pays tax all his life and then as a final fuck you gets taxed when he dies. Wrong.

And as for the cries of fuck 'em, move to smaller property, surely you are joking? A 82 or 90 year old has to move house cus their sister dies. Nice.

Tax them when they are BOTH dead if you have to.

[Thrush]

I think the two women are a bad example to be honest, the old cunts have got money in other properties, make them sell them!

But for people that have worked their entire lives scrimped and saved so that they can own their own home and then decide to give it to their loved ones it should be inheritance tax free what have they been paying tax for all their lives, so that their loved ones can pay more tax.

I think inheritance tax should be based on income not on the value of the house, with stipulations, so if the house is 'sold on' then a levy could be charged, but if the relations are already living in the home or plan to move in, well they shouldn't be charged anything