ENGLAND may have postponed its dementia tax but it operates in Scotland as an inheritance super tax. There is no universal free personal and nursing care in care homes. Outside the care of the free NHS, the savings put aside by parents to help struggling offspring are a target for the Scottish Government.
The increasing rates of dementia mean more people are paying a 100 per cent tax on assets above £26,500 to pay for nursing home care and to effectively subsidise councils.
In a care home costing £700 per week, the council will pay £249 and leave the dementia sufferer’s family with an inheritance super tax of more than £23,000 per year. The family home may also have to be sold to pay this lifetime tax.
The revised Conservative policy of increasing the inheritance super tax threshold to £100,000 and putting a cap on how much this tax a dementia sufferer should pay in total reflects the basic principle of pooled risk, with an acceptance that those who are able should pay a bit more.
However, as it was proposed by the Conservatives it obviously has no worth in a progressive Scotland where additional taxes on old people who have worked hard and saved for their families is fair game.
With the integration of health and social care in Scotland, this distinction between those requiring nursing and care for dementia in a care home rather than a hospital cannot be justified.
The Scottish inheritance super tax for dementia sufferers is unfair and is causing huge distress to wives and husbands who, as well as dealing with their loved one’s dementia, have to stand by helpless as the Scottish Government raids their life savings.
James Robb,
Redclyffe Gardens, Helensburgh.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel