They say that two things are inevitable in life: death and taxes. We don't much care for thinking about either. Inheritance tax is the one tax we don't pay until we are dead, so perhaps understandably it's a subject way down our list of priorities. When pressed, most people express the hope that their families, rather than the state, will inherit their wealth when they die. Western governments vary considerably in the extent to which they accommodate this basic human desire. To a greater or lesser degree, death taxes are nearly everywhere viewed as a legitimate tool for promoting the objective of social equality. Karl Marx, Andrew Carnegie and John Maynard Keynes had this in common: they all favored high inheritance taxes. However, this view is by no means universal: with a little planning and a global perspective, there are steps that can be taken to avoid the tax altogether. Indeed, there is some truth in the old assertion that inheritance taxes are paid only by the poorly advised.
Most countries, with the exception of the UK and USA, tax the beneficiaries of a will, rather than the estate itself. International comparisons are difficult, but the following details are illuminating: