More than 80 per cent of taxpayers surveyed identified the tax as a priority for reduction when the Chancellor is in a position to cut taxes and 83 per cent believe that inheritance tax is an unfair tax on wealth that has often been built up out of post-tax income.

Other priorities for tax reform identified by the research were increasing the threshold for higher rate income tax, lowering the rate of Stamp Duty Land Tax and reducing the Council Tax burden.

Not only do taxpayers want IHT reduced, but only 15 per cent believe that it is a fair tax which reduces inequality. Over 90 per cent of respondents were in favour of the Chancellor’s new measure to allow the unused IHT allowance of a married or civil partner to be transferred on death to their surviving spouse. This measure gives married couples a total IHT allowance of £600,000, rising to £700,000 by 2010.

The research reveals that taxpayers believe that the threshold above which IHT becomes payable needs to rise dramatically from its current level of £300,000. More than 80 per cent support the Liberal Democrat proposal of a £500,000 threshold and 70 per cent support the Conservative proposal to raise the threshold to £1 million.

Revealingly, even Labour sympathisers came out in favour of Liberal Democrat and Conservative proposals, with 88 per cent of Labour supporters in favour of a £500,000 threshold and more than half supporting a £1 million threshold.

Nigel May, tax principal at MacIntyre Hudson, says, ‘The fact that the majority of Labour sympathisers support Lib Dem and Conservative policies for more dramatic increases in the threshold underlines the unpopularity of the current IHT regime. While the majority support the Chancellor’s decision to make the IHT allowance transferable between spouses upon death, the support for a higher threshold indicates that Darling needs to go much further.’